Sutra 2

Devanagari script

तेषाममानितविमानितानियतयोरमानितं कृतार्थमानं युध्येत न विमानितमन्तःकोपम् ॥ कZ_०८.५.०२ ॥

Transliteration

teṣām amānitavimānitāniyatayor amānitaṃ kṛtārthamānaṃ yudhyeta na vimānitam antaḥkopam

Translation

Between one who has not been humiliated and one who has been humiliated (and is therefore unpredictable), he should fight the unhumiliated—one whose pride is satisfied and stable; he should not fight the humiliated one whose anger is inwardly inflamed.

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of those (persons)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: षष्ठी-बहुवचनम् (Gen. pl.), पुं./नपुं.

• अमानित-विमानित-अनियतयोः: of the two (groups): the unhonoured/insulted and the unrestrained
• Type: Adjective (participial/derived) used substantively
• Root: अमानित / विमानित / अनियत
• Form: षष्ठी-द्विवचनम् (Gen. du.); समाहारः—‘अमानित’ (not honoured), ‘विमानित’ (insulted), ‘अनियत’ (unrestrained/undisciplined) — these two classes (as a pair)

• अमानितम्: the unhonoured person (one not shown respect)
• Type: Adjective (PPP) used as noun
• Root: अमानित
• Form: द्वितीया-एकवचनम् (Acc. sg.), नपुंसकलिङ्गम्

• कृतार्थ-मानम्: (one) whose sense of honour is satisfied (honour after achieving the objective)
• Type: Noun phrase (compound)
• Root: कृतार्थ + मान
• Form: द्वितीया-एकवचनम् (Acc. sg.), नपुंसकलिङ्गम्; ‘कृतार्थ’ (having achieved one’s purpose) qualifying ‘मान’ (honour/self-respect)

• युध्येत: should fight/engage in battle
• Type: Verb
• Root: युध्
• Form: लिङ् (Optative), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्

• न: not
• Type: Particle (negation)
• Root: न
• Form: निषेधः

• विमानितम्: the insulted person (one who has been dishonoured)
• Type: Adjective (PPP) used as noun
• Root: विमानित
• Form: द्वितीया-एकवचनम् (Acc. sg.), नपुंसकलिङ्गम्

• अन्तः-कोपम्: (one) with inward anger; internal resentment
• Type: Noun (compound)
• Root: अन्तः + कोप
• Form: द्वितीया-एकवचनम् (Acc. sg.), पुंलिङ्गम्; ‘अन्तः’ = inwardly/within + ‘कोप’ = anger

Entities Mentioned

• commander/king (implicit)
• opponent troops/leader

More Details

FAQs

Why avoid an insulted (vimānita) opponent?

Humiliation can produce reckless, high-variance behavior (last-stand aggression), reducing predictability and increasing your downside risk even if they are weaker.