Shloka 14
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय 54: फल्गुन-प्रतिरोधः, सौबली-व्यूह-विध्वंसः, दुर्योधन-भीष्म-संवादः
जीवितस्य च शेषेण तपस्तप्स्यामि दुश्चरम् । न घातयिष्यामि रणे मित्राणीमानि केशव,“केशव! जीवन बच जानेपर मैं दुष्कर तपस्या करूँगा; परंतु रणक्षेत्रमें इन मित्रोंकी व्यर्थ हत्या नहीं कराऊँगा
jīvitasya ca śeṣeṇa tapastapsyāmi duścaram | na ghātayiṣyāmi raṇe mitrāṇīmāni keśava ||
“O Keśava, if my life is spared, I will undertake severe, arduous austerities; but on the battlefield I will not cause these friends to be slain in vain.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical boundary in warfare: even under pressure to fight, one may refuse actions that violate personal conscience—here, the refusal to be the agent of friends’ deaths—preferring self-discipline and penance over morally troubling victory.
In the war setting, the speaker addresses Keśava (Kṛṣṇa), declaring that if he survives he will undertake severe austerities, but he will not consent to or arrange the killing of those he regards as friends on the battlefield—expressing inner conflict and moral resistance amid martial duty.