Shloka 98
Duryodhana’s Śaraṇāgati and the Pāṇḍavas’ Resolve
Gandharva Encounter
उत्तरा: कुरवस्तेन गच्छन्त्यद्य यथासुखम् | क्षिप्ताक्षिप्ता तु सा शक्ति्त्वा शत्रूनू सहस्रश:
uttarāḥ kuravas tena gacchanty adya yathāsukham | kṣiptākṣiptā tu sā śaktvā śatrūnū sahasraśaḥ |
马尔坎德耶说道：“正因那一举，北方俱卢之民至今得以安然无虞、自在往来。然而那柄神枪，既已掷出又再被抛掷，仍能成千上万地击倒仇敌。”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts public well-being with the violent means that can secure it: a community may live “at ease” when threats are removed, yet the instrument of protection can be a fearsome weapon capable of mass destruction. It invites reflection on the ethical tension between security and the violence used to obtain it.
Mārkaṇḍeya describes how, due to a prior act or agency (“by that”), the Northern Kurus presently live without trouble. He then notes the extraordinary efficacy of a spear-weapon (śakti) that, when hurled (and again cast/handled), destroyed enemies in the thousands.