Dhritarashtra Recalls Vidura's Warning
Dhritarashtra tells Sanjaya that he now recalls what Vidura told him during the gambling: defeating the Pandavas will bring about the end of the Kurus, a great fear will arise, and there will be a torrent of blood. He now believes battle is certain after the Pandavas' promised time elapses.
Dhritarashtra replied to Sanjaya's report with a memory that had been waiting for this moment.
"At the time of the gambling, Vidura told me, 'O lord of men! If you defeat the Pandavas, it is certain that this will bring about the end of the Kurus. A great fear will arise and there will be a torrent of blood.'"
He had heard those words. He had not acted on them. Now they returned to him with the force of something already fulfilled.
"O suta! I think that this will now happen, the way Kshatta had described it to me earlier. It is certain that there will be a battle, after the time promised by the Pandavas has elapsed."
There was no hope in his voice. No plan. Only the recognition that a prophecy spoken in the past had become a description of the present. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 345