Shloka 25
ग्रहणे हि जयस्तस्य न वधे पुरुषर्षभ । एतेन चाप्युपायेन ग्रहणं समुपैष्यसि,नरश्रेष्ठ) उनको पकड़ लेनेमें ही तुम्हारी विजय है, उनके वधरमें नहीं; परंतु इसी उपायसे तुम उन्हें पकड़ पाओगे
grahaṇe hi jayas tasya na vadhe puruṣarṣabha | etena cāpy upāyena grahaṇaṃ samupaiṣyasi ||
Droṇa said: “Your victory lies in capturing him, not in killing him, O bull among men. By this very stratagem as well, you will succeed in taking him captive.”
द्रोण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Droṇa frames victory as dependent on restraint and purpose: the goal is to neutralize the opponent through capture rather than seek glory through killing. The verse highlights strategic prudence and an ethical preference for limiting violence when the objective can be achieved without slaughter.
In the midst of battlefield counsel, Droṇa instructs a warrior that success will come from taking the targeted enemy alive. He emphasizes that the proposed method is meant to secure a capture, indicating a tactical plan where imprisonment or control is more valuable than death.