Shloka 21
Arjuna Confronted by Saindhava Forces during the Aśvamedha Circuit (श्वेतवाहनस्य सैन्धवसंघर्षः)
जब मैं घरसे प्रस्थित हुआ, उस समय महातेजस्वी राजा युधिष्ठिरने मुझसे कहा --'धनंजय! तुम्हें किसी तरह भी राजाओंका वध नहीं करना चाहिये”
vaiśampāyana uvāca — yadāhaṁ gṛhāt prasthitaḥ, tadā mahātejasvī rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ mām uvāca— “dhanañjaya! tvaṁ kathaṁcid api rājñāṁ vadhaṁ na kartavyaḥ.”
Vaiśampāyana said: When I set out from home, the radiant King Yudhiṣṭhira said to me, “Dhanañjaya, under no circumstances should you kill the kings.” Thus the mission was bound by ethics: even amid royal strife, restraint and fidelity to dharma must govern one’s deeds.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in politically charged missions, dharma demands restraint: Yudhiṣṭhira explicitly forbids the killing of kings, emphasizing ethical limits on force and the priority of righteous conduct over vengeance or conquest.
As the journey begins, Vaiśampāyana reports that King Yudhiṣṭhira gives Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) a clear directive: during the undertaking, he must not slay the kings—setting the moral boundaries for the actions to follow.