[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Epic, Poetry, Drama & Narrative](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit) › [The Mahābhārata and its versions](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata) › [The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) › 5.27.26 # The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 5.27.26 Mahābhārata 5.27.26 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [5.27.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.5.27.26) labdhvāpīmāṃ pṛthivīṃ sāgarāntāṃ jarāmṛtyū naiva hi tvaṃ prajahyāḥ | priyāpriye sukhaduḥkhe ca rājannevaṃ vidvānnaiva yuddhaṃ kuruṣva || 26 || > Why are you now desirous of fighting, having let the proper opportunity slip? An unwise or an unrighteous man may win prosperity by means of fighting; but a wise and a righteous man, were he free from pride to betake to fight (against better instinct), doth only fall away from a prosperous path. O Pritha's son, your understanding inclines not to an unrighteous course. From wrath you ever committed a sinful act. Then what is the cause, and what is the reason, for which you are now intent to do this deed, against the dictates of wisdom? Wrath, O mighty king, is a bitter drug, though it has nothing to do with disease; it brings on a disease of the head, robs one of his fair fame, and leads to sinful acts. It is drunk up (controlled) by those that are righteous and not by those that are unrighteous. I ask you to swallow it and to desist from war. Who would incline himself to wrath which leads to sin? Forbearance would be more beneficial to you than love of enjoyments where Bhishma would be slain, and Drona with his son, and Kripa, and Somadatta's son, and Vikarna and Vivingsati, and Karna and Duryodhana. Having slain all these, what bliss may that be, O Pritha's son, which you will get? Tell me that! Even having won the entire sea-girt earth, you will never be free from decrepitude and death, pleasure and pain, bliss and misery. Knowing all this, do not be engaged in war. > — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - [Previous: 5.27.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.5.27.25) - [Next: 5.27.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.5.27.27) - [Up: 5.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.5.27) ## Translations (1) - [The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa~en-ganguli.5.27.1.4) — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, English ## Other recensions (2) - [Southern recension](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*southern.5.27.26) — Sanskrit - [Vulgate (Nīlakaṇṭha's text)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*vulgate.5.27.26) — Sanskrit ## Linked texts (1) - [Nītikalpataru](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.rajadharma.nitikalpataru.4.17) — Kṣemendra, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.5.27.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.5.27.26) · Pramāṇa