Arjuna counters Yudhishthira's doubts, advocating for action
Yudhishthira hesitates, declaring the mission against the invincible Jarasandha too risky. Arjuna counters with a speech that cuts to the heart of a kshatriya's duty, arguing that possessing strength but failing to act is the true defeat.
Yudhishthira had spoken his fear. The mission to confront the mighty king Jarasandha was too dangerous. The risk of disaster was too great. He wanted to refrain.
Arjuna, who had obtained the divine Gandiva bow, the inexhaustible quivers, the celestial chariot, and the power that came with them, listened. Then he answered his elder brother.
He began by listing what they possessed: the bow, the weapons, the arrows, valour itself, allies, land, fame, and strength. "These are things that are desired but difficult to achieve," he said. "We have them."
Then he made his central argument. Learned men always praised noble lineage. But nothing, Arjuna declared, equaled power. Nothing pleased him as much as valour. "What purpose is served if one is born in noble lineage, but has no valour?" A kshatriya's (warrior's) very livelihood was defeat — the constant risk of battle. A man who had valour, even if he lacked every other quality, would still vanquish his enemies. But a man who possessed all qualities except valour was useless. All other qualities, Arjuna argued, existed in nascent form within valour itself.
He spoke of the causes of victory: mental concentration, enterprise, and fortune. But he warned of the trap that caught the powerful: carelessness. A king who possessed forces but was deluded or inattentive would not succeed; fortune would abandon him. That was how a powerful man perished when confronted by his foes. Misery awaited both the weak and the strong who were deluded. A king who wished for victory had to forsake both these paths to destruction.
Then he turned to their immediate task. "There is nothing that can surpass the act of destroying Jarasandha and freeing the imprisoned kings to achieve the rajasuya (imperial consecration)." If they did not attempt it, they would be regarded as bereft of all qualities. "We certainly possess the qualities," Arjuna insisted. "Why do you doubt them?"
He ended with a promise that was also a challenge. "Red garments are easily available to those who later wish to obtain peace of mind." The saffron robes of renunciation could be taken up anytime by those seeking quiet. But that was not their path now. "Wishing to see you emperor first," Arjuna said, "we will therefore fight with the enemy."
His speech was a direct counter to Yudhishthira's hesitation. It pushed the plan forward not with blind aggression, but with a kshatriya's philosophy of action, power, and the duty that comes with possessing strength.