Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अवेक्षस्व यथान्यायं पश्य देवासुरं यथा । राजन्‌ किमन्यज्जातीनां वधाद्‌ गृद्धयन्ति देवता:,आप न्यायके अनुसार विचार कीजिये और देवताओं तथा असुरोंके बर्तावपर दृष्टि डालिये। राजन्‌! देवता अपने जाति-भाइयोंका वध करनेके सिवा और क्या चाहते हैं (एक पिताकी संतान होनेके कारण देवता और असुर परस्पर भाई-भाई ही तो हैं)

Transliteration

avekṣasva yathānyāyaṁ paśya devāsuraṁ yathā | rājan kim anyaj jātīnāṁ vadhād gṛddhyanti devatāḥ |

Translation

Arjuna sprach: „Erwäge dies nach dem Maß der Gerechtigkeit und sieh genau hin, wie sich die Götter und die Asuras verhalten. O König, was begehren die Götter sonst, wenn nicht das Abschlachten der Ihren? Denn da sie von demselben Erzeuger stammen, sind Götter und Asuras in Wahrheit Brüder.“

Word by Word

• {'avekṣasva': 'look upon, examine, consider (imperative)', 'yathā-nyāyam': 'according to justice

• in a lawful/proper manner', 'paśya': 'see, observe (imperative)', 'deva-asuram': 'the gods and the asuras (as a paired collective)', 'rājan': 'O King (vocative address)', 'kim anyat': 'what else?', 'jātīnām': 'of (their) own kinds/kin-groups

• of related peoples', 'vadhāt': 'from killing

• than the killing (ablative sense: ‘other than/except’)', 'gṛddhyanti': 'they crave, desire intensely, are greedy for', 'devatāḥ': 'the gods

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• King (rājan)
• Devas
• Asuras

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical critique: even exalted beings can be driven by partisan desire and violence against their own kin. True judgment should be made “according to nyāya” (justice), not by assuming that the ‘divine side’ is automatically righteous.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna addresses a king and urges him to assess events fairly by observing the conduct of devas and asuras. He argues that their rivalry is essentially fratricidal—stemming from shared origin—so one should not romanticize their motives as purely noble.