Shloka 21
शिरस्ते पोथयिष्यामि गदया वज्कल्पया । “यदि तू पुनः मेरे समीप ऐसी बात बोलेगा तो मैं अपनी इस वज्तुल्य गदासे तेरा सिर कुचल दूँगा ।। त्वां च ब्रह्म॒हणं दृष्टवा जन: सूर्यमवेक्षते
śiraste pothayiṣyāmi gadayā vajrakalpayā | yadi tvaṁ punaḥ mama samīpe etādṛśīṁ vācaṁ vadiṣyasi tato'haṁ etayā vajratulyayā gadayā tava śiraḥ kūcayiṣyāmi || tvāṁ ca brahmahaṇaṁ dṛṣṭvā janaḥ sūryam avekṣate |
Sanjaya said: "I will crush your head with this mace, hard as a thunderbolt. If you speak such words again in my presence, I will smash your head with this thunderbolt-like club." And seeing you—one stained with the sin of brahmin-slaying—people turn their gaze away, as though looking toward the sun, unable to face you directly. The passage underscores how violent threats and the taint of grievous wrongdoing corrode moral standing even amid the brutal necessities of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in wartime, speech and conduct carry moral weight: violent threats and association with grave sin (brahmahatyā) diminish one’s standing, and society instinctively recoils from those perceived as morally tainted.
Sanjaya reports a harsh warning: the speaker threatens to crush the other’s head with a thunderbolt-like mace if such words are repeated, and adds that people avert their gaze from the person as from the sun, implying fear, revulsion, or the unbearable glare of guilt.