Shloka 11
अनस्त्रविदयं सर्वो हन्तव्यो<स्त्रविदा जन: । यद् भवान् मन्यते चापि शुभं वा यदि वाशुभम्
anastravidaṁ sarvo hantavyo ’stravidā janaḥ | yad bhavān manyate cāpi śubhaṁ vā yadi vāśubham ||
Sañjaya said: “Every man who is unskilled in the use of weapons should be slain by those who are skilled in arms. Whatever you deem fit—whether it be auspicious or inauspicious—(let that be done).”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a harsh wartime ethic: superiority in martial skill is treated as a warrant for killing the untrained, and the decision is deferred to the addressee’s judgment of what is ‘auspicious’ or ‘inauspicious.’ It highlights how dharma-language can be invoked to justify violence, exposing moral tension rather than offering a simple ideal.
Sañjaya reports a statement made in the midst of the Drona Parva’s battlefield deliberations. The speaker (as relayed by Sañjaya) urges that those lacking weapon-skill be killed by trained warriors, and then leaves the final choice to the addressed authority, indicating counsel given under the pressures of war.