Shloka 4
निहन्यमानां पाण्डूनां बलेन मम वाहिनीम् | भूत्वा तद्विजये शक्तावशक्ताविव पश्यत:,“परंतु इस समय पाण्डव-सेनाद्वारा मेरी विशाल वाहिनीका विनाश हो रहा है और आपलोग उसे जीतनेमें समर्थ होकर भी असमर्थकी भाँति देख रहे हैं
nihanyamānāṃ pāṇḍūnāṃ balena mama vāhinīm | bhūtvā tad-vijaye śaktāv aśaktāv iva paśyataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Even as my vast host is being cut down by the might of the Pāṇḍavas, you look on as though powerless—though you are in fact capable of securing victory. In this moment, your inaction makes strength appear like weakness, while our army is being destroyed before your eyes.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral and strategic responsibility in leadership: capability without decisive action becomes indistinguishable from incapacity, and passive witnessing of harm can amount to culpable failure.
Sañjaya reports that the Kaurava host is being devastated by the Pāṇḍavas’ strength, and he reproaches the onlookers (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s side) for merely watching as if helpless despite having the means to act.