Shloka 83
दण्डेनोपनतं शत्रुमनुगृह्नाति यो नर: । स मृत्युमुपगृह्नीयाद् गर्भमश्वतरी यथा,जो मनुष्य दण्डके द्वारा वशमें किये हुए शत्रुपर दया करता है, वह मौतको ही अपनाता है--ठीक उसी तरह जैसे खच्चरी गर्भके रूपमें अपनी मृत्युको ही उदरमें धारण करती है
daṇḍenopanataṃ śatrum anugṛhṇāti yo naraḥ | sa mṛtyum upagṛhṇīyād garbham aśvatarī yathā ||
Kaṇika said: “A man who shows mercy to an enemy already brought under control by punishment is, in effect, embracing his own death—just as a mule, by carrying a foal in its womb, is said to carry death within.”
कणिक उवाच
Educational Q&A
In Kaṇika’s hard-edged political ethic, sparing an enemy who has already been subdued by force is portrayed as a fatal mistake; mercy in such a context is not praised as dharma but criticized as endangering one’s own life and rule.
Kaṇika is delivering counsel in the Adi Parva’s discourse on policy and governance, using a striking simile—“like a mule carrying death in its womb”—to warn that leniency toward a controlled adversary can rebound disastrously on the ruler.