Shloka 17
न हास्य समरे युद्धोेदन्तको5प्याततायिन: । किमज़् पुनरेवान्यो मर्त्य: सत्यं ब्रवीमि व:
na hāsya samare yuddhodantako 'py ātatāyinaḥ | kim u punaḥ evānyo martyaḥ satyaṃ bravīmi vaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: “In battle, even a murderous assailant does not become the ‘end’ of his foe merely by fighting; how much less can any other mortal do so. I tell you this as the truth.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses human limitation in war: even a violent aggressor cannot guarantee decisive destruction merely by entering battle. Outcomes are not fully under personal control, so one should not presume certainty or absolute power.
Sañjaya addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra, commenting on the nature of combat and the uncertainty of victory and death in the ongoing Kurukṣetra war, emphasizing that even the fiercest attacker cannot assuredly ‘finish’ an opponent.