Shloka 24
अध्याय २६ — युद्ध-निन्दा, काम-दोष, तथा धार्तराष्ट्र-नीति-विश्लेषण
War-aversion, Desire as a Policy Fault, and Analysis of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Governance
पापानुबन्धं को नु तं कामयेत क्षमैव ते ज्यायसी नोत भोगा: | यत्र भीष्म: शान्तनवो हतः स्याद् यत्र द्रोण: सहपुत्रो हतः स्यात्
sañjaya uvāca |
pāpānubandhaṃ ko nu taṃ kāmayeta kṣamaiva te jyāyasī nota bhogāḥ |
yatra bhīṣmaḥ śāntanavo hataḥ syād yatra droṇaḥ sahaputro hataḥ syāt ||
সঞ্জয় বললেন—পাপের সঙ্গে বাঁধা সেই ক্রোধকে কে কামনা করবে? তোমার বিচারে ক্ষমাই শ্রেষ্ঠ; সেই ভোগ নয়, যার জন্য শান্তনুনন্দন ভীষ্ম নিহত হন এবং আচার্য দ্রোণও পুত্রসহ নিহত হন।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Anger that leads to sinful consequences is not worth desiring; forgiveness (kṣamā) is ethically superior to worldly enjoyments, especially when those gains would require killing revered elders like Bhīṣma and the teacher Droṇa (with his son).
Sañjaya voices a moral warning in the pre-war context: pursuing pleasure or advantage through wrath-driven conflict would entail the death of eminent figures on the Kuru side—Bhīṣma and Droṇa—highlighting the grave cost of escalation.