वैशंपायन उवाच
वासुदेवस्य तद् वाक्यम् अनुस्मृत्य युधिष्ठिरः ॥
पुनः पप्रच्छ वार्ष्णेयं कथं मन्दो ऽब्रवीद् इदम् ॥
अस्मिन्न् अभ्यागते काले किं च नः क्षमम् अच्युत ॥
कथं च वर्तमाना वै स्वधर्मान् न च्यवेमहि ॥
दुर्योधनस्य कर्णस्य शकुनेः सौबलस्य च ॥
वासुदेव मतज्ञो ऽसि मम सभ्रातृकस्य च ॥
विदुरस्यापि ते वाक्यं श्रुतं भीष्मस्य चोभयोः ॥
कुन्त्याश् च विपुलप्रज्ञ प्रज्ञा कार्त्स्न्येन ते श्रुता ॥
सर्वम् एतद् अतिक्रम्य विचार्य च पुनः पुनः ॥
यन् नः क्षमं महाबाहो तद् ब्रवीह्य् अविचारयन् ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
vāsudevasya tad vākyam anusmṛtya yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
punaḥ papraccha vārṣṇeyaṃ kathaṃ mando 'bravīd idam ||
asminn abhyāgate kāle kiṃ ca naḥ kṣamam acyuta ||
kathaṃ ca vartamānā vai svadharmān na cyavemahi ||
duryodhanasya karṇasya śakuneḥ saubalasya ca ||
vāsudeva matajño 'si mama sabhrātṛkasya ca ||
vidurasyāpi te vākyaṃ śrutaṃ bhīṣmasya cobhayoḥ ||
kuntyāś ca vipulaprajña prajñā kārtsnyena te śrutā ||
sarvam etad atikramya vicārya ca punaḥ punaḥ ||
yan naḥ kṣamaṃ mahābāho tad bravīhy avicārayan ||
Vaishampayana said: Remembering these words of Vasudeva, Yudhishthira again asked the Vrishni scion: "What did that fool say? Now that this hour has come, what should we do, O Achyuta? How should we act so as not to fall away from our own dharma? O Vasudeva, you know the minds of Duryodhana, Karna, and Shakuni, son of Subala, as well as my own mind and the minds of my brothers. You have heard the words of Vidura and of Bhishma, and you have heard in full the wisdom of Kunti, O one of vast understanding. Having taken all this into account and pondered it again and again, tell me without hesitation, O mighty-armed one, what is right for us."
d58a82042b7c · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:17:52 AM UTC
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Here Yudhishthira once again tests the decision for war through dharma: his question is not about advantage, but about how to act without falling from his duty. Krishna's answer and Arjuna's reminder show that peace was exhausted not through any weakness of effort, but through Duryodhana's conscious rejection of dharma; thus the battle becomes not a desire for violence, but the inevitable fulfillment of responsibility.