Shloka 453

Devanagari script

सैन्धवो यादवश्रेष्ठ तच्च नातिप्रियं मम । “इसी प्रकार दूसरे महाधनुर्धरोंने सुभद्राकुमारको युद्धमें मार गिराया था। यादवश्रेष्ठ श्रीकृष्ण! अभिमन्युके वधमें जयद्रथका बहुत कम अपराध था, तो भी उस छोटे-से कारणको लेकर ही गाण्डीवधारी अर्जुनने जयद्रथको मार डाला है। यह कार्य मुझे अधिक प्रिय नहीं लगा है

Transliteration

saindhavo yādavaśreṣṭha tacca nātipriyaṃ mama |

Translation

Sanjaya said: “O best of the Yadus, the Saindhava (Jayadratha) was involved, yet this does not please me much. For in the slaying of Subhadrā’s son Abhimanyu, Jayadratha’s fault was comparatively small; nevertheless, taking even that slight cause as sufficient, Arjuna, the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva, killed Jayadratha. Ethically, this act does not sit well with me.”

Word by Word

• {'saindhavaḥ': 'the Saindhava

• Jayadratha, king of Sindhu', 'yādava-śreṣṭha': 'best among the Yādavas

• an epithet of Kṛṣṇa', 'tat': 'that

• this matter/act', 'ca': 'and

• also', 'na': 'not', 'ati-priyam': 'very pleasing

• highly agreeable', 'mama': 'to me

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Krishna (Yadavaśreṣṭha)
• Jayadratha (Saindhava)
• Arjuna (Gāṇḍīvadhārī)
• Abhimanyu (Subhadrā-kumāra)
• Subhadrā
• Gāṇḍīva

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights moral ambiguity in wartime justice: even when retaliation is permitted by kṣatriya norms, proportionality and true culpability matter. Sanjaya’s discomfort points to the tension between righteous duty and vengeance-driven excess.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya addresses Kṛṣṇa, reflecting on Jayadratha’s role in Abhimanyu’s death. He judges Jayadratha’s direct guilt as limited, yet notes that Arjuna still killed him, and Sanjaya admits this outcome is not pleasing to him.