Mahabharata 7.154.12 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 154, Shloka 12
घटोत्कच-कर्णयुद्धम्
Ghaṭotkaca–Karna Combat and the Release of Śakti
'शत्रुओंको संताप देनेवाले द्रोणाचार्यने सिंधुराजको अभय-दान देकर भी किरीटधारी अर्जुनको व्यूहमें घुसनेका मार्ग दे दिया। देखो, मुझमें कितनी गुणहीनता है ।।
yady adāsyad anu-jñāṁ vai pūrvam eva gṛhān prati | prasthātuṁ sindhurājasya nābhaviṣyaj jana-kṣayaḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: Droṇa, der die Feinde peinigt, gewährte dem König von Sindhu Unversehrtheit und öffnete dennoch dem diademtragenden Arjuna den Weg in die Schlachtordnung. Seht, wie wenig Tugend in mir ist! Hätte Duryodhana dem König von Sindhu schon früher erlaubt, heimzukehren, wäre dieses gewaltige Menschensterben nicht geschehen.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral causality in war: a leader’s earlier choice to permit de-escalation (letting an ally withdraw) could have prevented large-scale loss of life, implying accountability for avoidable violence.
Sañjaya reflects that if the Sindhu king (Jayadratha) had been allowed to leave earlier, the ensuing chain of events leading to heavy casualties would not have unfolded; it is a retrospective lament over a preventable massacre.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.