Shloka 14
अध्याय १४६ — निशायां सात्यकिदुर्योधनयुद्धम् / Chapter 146 — Night Battle: Sātyaki and Duryodhana; Śakuni’s Encirclement of Arjuna
मध्ये राजसहस्राणां प्रेक्षकाणां समन्तत: । कृपया च पुनस्तेन स जीवेति विसर्जित:
madhye rāja-sahasrāṇāṃ prekṣakāṇāṃ samantataḥ | kṛpayā ca punas tena sa jīveti visarjitaḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: Mitten unter Tausenden von Königen, während ringsum Zuschauer standen, wurde er von jenem Mann aus Mitleid abermals freigelassen, in dem Gedanken: „Er soll leben.“ Dieser Augenblick zeigt, dass selbst in der harten Logik des Krieges und unter öffentlicher Beobachtung eine bewusst gewährte Gnade eine moralische Entscheidung gegen die völlige Vernichtung behaupten kann.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a battlefield culture that often rewards decisive killing, the verse highlights kṛpā (compassion) as a conscious ethical intervention: choosing to spare life can be a morally significant act, especially when done openly under the gaze of many.
Sañjaya reports that, surrounded by many kings and spectators, a combatant who had the power to kill instead releases his opponent (or captive) again, explicitly motivated by compassion—‘let him live.’