Shloka 46

Devanagari script

यदि शत्रुवधो न्याय्यो भवेत्‌ कर्तु हि पाण्डवै:

Transliteration

yadi śatruvadho nyāyyo bhavet kartu hi pāṇḍavaiḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “If, for the Pāṇḍavas, the slaying of an enemy could truly be deemed just and proper to carry out…”

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• शत्रु-वधः: the killing of the enemy
• शत्रु-वधः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत्रु-वध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• न्याय्यः: justified, proper
• Type: Adjective
• Root: न्याय्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भवेत्: would be / should be
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Vidhi-linga, Optative, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कर्तुम्: to do, to perform
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Tumun (infinitive)

• हि: indeed, for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• पाण्डवैः: by the Pandavas
• पाण्डवैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍavas
• enemy (śatru)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a conditional ethical inquiry: even in war, killing is not assumed to be automatically righteous; it must be examined under nyāya (justice/dharma) and only then considered a legitimate act for the Pāṇḍavas.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya begins a reflective or argumentative statement about whether the Pāṇḍavas’ act of killing enemies can be regarded as justified—setting up a discussion of dharma in the midst of the Drona Parva’s intense battlefield events.