Shloka 16
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 58 — Saṃjaya’s Audience and Kṛṣṇa’s Deterrent Counsel (संजय-प्रवेशः कृष्णवाक्यं च)
वाचं स वदतां श्रेष्ठो ह्वादिनीं वचनक्षमाम् | त्रासिनीं धार्तराष्ट्राणां मृदुपूर्वां सुदारुणाम्
vācaṃ sa vadatāṃ śreṣṭho hvādinīṃ vacanakṣamām | trāsinīṃ dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃ mṛdupūrvāṃ sudāruṇām
三阇耶说：他——言辞之中最为卓绝者——吐露的话语既悦耳又合乎法度，却令持国之子心生恐惧：起初温和，末了严厉，直斩真相。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical speech can be both courteous and forceful: one may begin gently to maintain decorum and receptivity, yet speak with firm severity when confronting adharma. The verse praises disciplined rhetoric—pleasant in form, truthful and even fear-inducing in its moral consequence.
Sañjaya describes a principal speaker (contextually, a leading counselor or envoy in the Udyoga Parva’s negotiations) delivering a carefully crafted address: pleasing and articulate, but alarming to the Dhārtarāṣṭras because it exposes their peril and wrongdoing, moving from soft opening to stern admonition.