Shloka 50
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
गृहं वा गच्छ माद्रेय यत्र वा कृष्णफाल्गुनौ । एवमुक््त्वा महाराज व्यसर्जयत तं तदा
gṛhaṃ vā gaccha mādreya yatra vā kṛṣṇa-phālgunau | evam uktvā mahārāja vyasarjayat taṃ tadā ||
Sañjaya said: “O son of Mādrī, go back to your home—or else flee to wherever Kṛṣṇa and Phālguna (Arjuna) are.” Having spoken thus, O King, Karṇa then let Nakula go. In ethical tone, the utterance is a taunt mixed with contemptuous ‘mercy’: Karṇa asserts superiority, urges Nakula to avoid combat with mightier warriors, and releases him rather than killing him, thereby intensifying humiliation amid the codes and rivalries of battlefield honor.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a battlefield ethic where ‘sparing’ an opponent can function as moral posturing and psychological warfare. It raises a dharmic tension: restraint may appear virtuous, yet when motivated by contempt it becomes an instrument of humiliation rather than compassion.
After overpowering Nakula, Karṇa addresses him derisively as Mādrī’s son, telling him to go home or run to Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Sañjaya reports that Karṇa then dismisses and releases Nakula instead of killing him.