Shloka 50
ते यूयं धर्ममुत्सृूज्य जयं रक्षत पाण्डवा: । यथा व: संयुगे सर्वान् न हन्याद् रुक्मवाहन:
te yūyaṃ dharmam utsṛjya jayaṃ rakṣata pāṇḍavāḥ | yathā vaḥ saṃyuge sarvān na hanyād rukmavāhanaḥ ||
Kṛpa said: “Setting aside considerations of dharma for the moment, you Pāṇḍavas must safeguard victory—so that Rukmavāhana may not, in the press of battle, slay all of you.”
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kṛpa urges a hard, pragmatic wartime ethic: when survival and the preservation of victory are at stake, one may need to set aside idealized notions of dharma and act strategically to prevent total destruction. The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between moral ideals and battlefield necessity.
In the midst of the Drona Parva fighting, Kṛpa addresses the Pāṇḍavas with an urgent warning. He tells them to focus on protecting their victory and themselves, lest the warrior called Rukmavāhana gain the upper hand in combat and kill them all.