Shloka 25
Devanagari script
यदि क्षत्रबन्धूनां स्वधर्ममनुतिष्ठताम्
Transliteration
yadi kṣatrabandhūnāṃ svadharmam anutiṣṭhatām
Translation
Sañjaya sprach: „Wenn jene, die nur ‚Verwandte der Kṣatriyas‘ sind und doch den Stand des Kriegers beanspruchen, wahrhaft ihre eigene Pflicht erfüllten …“
Word by Word
यदिif
यदि:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयदि
क्षत्रबन्धूनाम्of the kṣatra-relatives / of those who are kṣatriyas only in name
क्षत्रबन्धूनाम्:
TypeNoun
Rootक्षत्रबन्धु
FormMasculine, Genitive, Plural
स्वधर्मम्one's own duty
स्वधर्मम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootस्वधर्म
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
अनुतिष्ठताम्let them follow / let them practice
अनुतिष्ठताम्:
Karta
TypeVerb
Rootअनु-स्था
FormLot (Imperative), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaCharacter Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The line invokes svadharma—authentic adherence to one’s rightful duty—and implicitly criticizes those who bear the kṣatriya label without embodying its responsibilities, especially in the moral crucible of war.
Sañjaya continues his report to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, introducing a conditional statement that frames a judgment about warriors’ conduct: whether those derided as ‘kṣatrabandhus’ are actually upholding the kṣatriya code of duty.