Shloka 56
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
ब्राहे बले भवान् युक्त: स्वाध्याये यज्ञकर्मणि । मा सम युद्ध्यस्व कौन्तेय मा सम वीरान् समासद:,“कुन्तीकुमार! तुम ब्राह्मबल, स्वाध्याय एवं यज्ञ-कर्ममें ही कुशल हो; अतः न तो युद्ध किया करो और न वीरोंके सामने ही जाओ
brāhma-bale bhavān yuktaḥ svādhyāye yajña-karmaṇi | mā sma yuddhyasva kaunteya mā sma vīrān samāsadaḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Sohn der Kuntī, dir ziemt die Kraft brahmanischer Zucht — das Studium der Veden und die Vollziehung der Opferhandlungen. Darum nimm nicht am Kampf teil und tritt nicht vor die Krieger.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts roles and competencies: one grounded in Brahminical discipline (Vedic study and sacrificial duty) is advised not to take up the warrior’s work of battle or to confront heroes—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring concern with svadharma (one’s proper duty) and the ethical peril of acting outside it.
Sañjaya reports a statement addressed to a ‘Kaunteya’ (a son of Kuntī), in which the addressee is discouraged from fighting and from approaching warriors, being characterized instead as skilled in Vedic study and sacrificial rites—an admonitory moment framed as counsel amid the war narrative of the Karṇa Parva.