Shloka 16
वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च
The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel
त्वां चाप्यद्य वधिष्यामि सहपुत्रं सबान्धवम् । तिष्ठेदानीं रणे यत्त: कौरवो5सि महारथ:,“अब पुत्रों और बान्धवोंसहित तुम्हें भी मार डालूँगा। तुम कुरुकुलके महारथी वीर हो। इस समय रणभूमिमें सावधान होकर खड़े रहो
tvāṁ cāpy adya vadhiṣyāmi sahaputraṁ sabāndhavam | tiṣṭhedānīṁ raṇe yattaḥ kauravo 'si mahārathaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Today I shall slay you as well—together with your sons and your kinsmen. Stand now on the battlefield, fully alert; you are a Kaurava, a great chariot-warrior.” The utterance conveys the ruthless escalation typical of the war’s climax, where prowess is invoked to justify total annihilation of an opponent’s line, pressing the ethical tension between kṣatriya duty in battle and the moral horror of exterminating families.
सयजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the war-ethic of the kṣatriya world where martial excellence and readiness are demanded, yet it also exposes the moral peril of vengeance: the threat extends beyond the individual to sons and kin, showing how adharma can spread through retaliatory escalation even while couched in the language of heroism.
In the midst of the Drona Parva’s intense fighting, a warrior issues a direct challenge and death-threat to a Kaurava ‘mahāratha,’ ordering him to stand ready in battle and declaring an intent to kill him along with his sons and relatives; Sañjaya reports this to Dhṛtarāṣṭra as part of the unfolding combat.