संजयेमे महीपालाः शूरा युद्धाभिनन्दिनः ॥
अन्योन्यम् अभिनिघ्नन्ति शस्त्रैर् उच्चावचैर् अपि ॥
पार्थिवाः पृथिवीहेतोः समभित्यक्तजीविताः ॥
न च शाम्यन्ति निघ्नन्तो वर्धयन्तो यमक्षयम् ॥
भौमम् ऐश्वर्यम् इच्छन्तो न मृष्यन्ते परस्परम् ॥
मन्ये बहुगुणा भूमिस् तन् ममाचक्ष्व संजय ॥
बहूनि च सहस्राणि प्रयुतान्य् अर्बुदानि च ॥
कोट्यश् च लोकवीराणां समेताः कुरुजाङ्गले ॥
देशानां च परीमाणं नगराणां च संजय ॥
श्रोतुम् इच्छामि तत्त्वेन यत एते समागताः ॥
दिव्यबुद्धिप्रदीपेन युक्तस् त्वं ज्ञानचक्षुषा ॥
प्रसादात् तस्य विप्रर्षेर् व्यासस्यामिततेजसः ॥
saṃjayeme mahīpālāḥ śūrā yuddhābhinandinaḥ ||
anyonyam abhinighnanti śastrair uccāvacair api ||
pārthivāḥ pṛthivīhetoḥ samabhityaktajīvitāḥ ||
na ca śāmyanti nighnanto vardhayanto yamakṣayam ||
bhaumam aiśvaryam icchanto na mṛṣyante parasparam ||
manye bahuguṇā bhūmis tan mamācakṣva saṃjaya ||
bahūni ca sahasrāṇi prayutāny arbudāni ca ||
koṭyaś ca lokavīrāṇāṃ sametāḥ kurujāṅgale ||
deśānāṃ ca parīmāṇaṃ nagarāṇāṃ ca saṃjaya ||
śrotum icchāmi tattvena yata ete samāgatāḥ ||
divyabuddhipradīpena yuktas tvaṃ jñānacakṣuṣā ||
prasādāt tasya viprarṣer vyāsasyāmitatejasaḥ ||
Dhritarashtra said: "O Sanjaya, these kings, heroes rejoicing in battle, strike one another with weapons of every kind. Earthly lords, ready to part with their lives for the sake of the earth, do not grow calm — by killing, they swell the abode of Yama. Desiring earthly dominion, they cannot tolerate one another. I think the earth, as a possession, holds many virtues; tell me of this, Sanjaya. Many thousands, tens of thousands, arbudas and kotis of world-heroes have gathered in the land of Kuru. O Sanjaya, I wish to hear precisely the measure of the countries and cities from which they have come. You are endowed with the eye of knowledge and the lamp of divine intelligence, by the grace of the brahmarishi Vyasa of immeasurable power."
a73e45b754e3 · published Jul 17, 2026, 8:37:17 PM UTC
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Dhritarashtra asks about the earth, but behind the question stands his own attachment. He sees that kings are swelling the kingdom of Yama for the sake of earthly power, and still he wants to understand what makes the earth so alluring. It is an honest question, but a late one: he examines the cause of the war only after the war has already begun.