Bhagavatapurana 3.1.43

3.1.43

nūnaṃ nṛpāṇāṃ tri-madotpathānāṃ mahīṃ muhuś cālayatāṃ camūbhiḥ /
vadhāt prapannārti-jihīrṣayeśo 'py upaikṣatāghaṃ bhagavān kurūṇām //

43. The glorious Lord was at the moment indifferent to the offence of the Kurus, though able (to punish them at once)

(and it was) certainly for the purpose of removing the affliction of those that sought His shelter, by the destruction (at once) of all the kings who should go astray on account of the three-fold pride and who frequently ravaged the earth by their (unwieldy) armies.