Shloka 73
प्रयुज्य कर्म रक्षोघ्न क्षुद्रै: पार्थर्निपातित: । “मेरे पिता जटासुर राक्षसोंके अगुआ थे। उन्हें पूर्वकालमें इन नीच कुन्तीकुमारोंने राक्षस-विनाशक कर्म करके मार गिराया
prayujya karma rakṣoghnāḥ kṣudraiḥ pārthair nipātitaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “By undertaking deeds meant to destroy the rākṣasas, those base sons of Pṛthā struck down my father, Jaṭāsura, who had been the leader of the rākṣasas in former times.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The line frames violence as morally charged action: deeds undertaken as “rākṣasa-destroying” can be presented as righteous protection, yet the speaker’s labeling of the Pāṇḍavas as “kṣudra” shows how ethical judgment is often shaped by grief, allegiance, and the desire for retaliation.
In Sañjaya’s report, a speaker recalls an earlier event: Jaṭāsura, described as a former leader among rākṣasas, was killed by the Pāṇḍavas while they were engaged in demon-slaying acts; this remembrance functions as a motive-setting accusation and a seed for enmity.