Shloka 11
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १२५: दुर्योधनस्य प्रत्युत्तरम्
Duryodhana’s Reply in the Kuru Assembly
कृतास्त्रै: क्षिप्रमस्यद्धिर्दूरपातिभिरायसा: । अभिल क्ष्यै्निपात्यन्ते तावच्छाम्यतु वैशसम्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — kṛtāstraiḥ kṣipram asyaddhir dūrapātibhir āyasāḥ | abhilakṣyai nipātyante tāvac chāmyatu vaiśasam ||
毗湿摩波耶那说道：“只要那些铁矢——由精熟兵器之学的战士迅疾射出，且能及远——尚未开始击倒其所瞄准之物，就当抑止这暴烈之举。直到那一刻：善射者一入目便能立刻射倒人；在此之前，连战争之念也应舍弃。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges restraint: before the machinery of battle fully begins—when expert archers start felling men with swift, far-reaching iron arrows—one should still choose to calm the impulse toward slaughter and abandon the thought of war.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, the onset of battle is evoked through imagery of accomplished warriors and their deadly arrows. The line functions as a warning that once such forces are unleashed, violence escalates beyond easy control—hence the call to stop it beforehand.