Shloka 14
अध्याय १४६ — निशायां सात्यकिदुर्योधनयुद्धम् / Chapter 146 — Night Battle: Sātyaki and Duryodhana; Śakuni’s Encirclement of Arjuna
मध्ये राजसहस्राणां प्रेक्षकाणां समन्तत: । कृपया च पुनस्तेन स जीवेति विसर्जित:
madhye rāja-sahasrāṇāṃ prekṣakāṇāṃ samantataḥ | kṛpayā ca punas tena sa jīveti visarjitaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: In the very midst of thousands of kings, with spectators gathered all around, he was released once again by that man out of compassion, with the thought, “Let him live.” The moment underscores how, even amid the harsh logic of war and public scrutiny, a deliberate act of mercy can assert a moral choice over total annihilation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a battlefield culture that often rewards decisive killing, the verse highlights kṛpā (compassion) as a conscious ethical intervention: choosing to spare life can be a morally significant act, especially when done openly under the gaze of many.
Sañjaya reports that, surrounded by many kings and spectators, a combatant who had the power to kill instead releases his opponent (or captive) again, explicitly motivated by compassion—‘let him live.’