Shloka 31
युध्यमानं च मां हित्वा प्रदक्षिणमवर्तत । त्वं हि मे युध्यतो नाद्य जीवन् यास्यसि माधव
yudhyamānaṃ ca māṃ hitvā pradakṣiṇam avartata | tvaṃ hi me yudhyato nādya jīvan yāsyasi mādhava ||
Sañjaya said: “Leaving me though I was still engaged in combat, he wheeled about to the right in a respectful circling movement. For you, O Mādhava—fighting against me today—shall not depart alive.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes ritualized respect (pradakṣiṇā) with the ruthless logic of war: even gestures of honor can coexist with lethal intent. It highlights the kṣatriya code where resolve and vows in battle are treated as binding, and where ethical tension arises between auspicious conduct and violence.
Sañjaya reports that a warrior disengages from fighting him, turns to the right in a pradakṣiṇā-like movement, and then addresses Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa) with a grim declaration: if Mādhava fights him today, Mādhava will not escape alive—an emphatic battlefield threat or vow.