Shloka 326
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
पात्यमानस्त्वया दृष्टो न चैनं त्वमवारय: । “इस नृशंस धृष्टद्युम्नने पराक्रमी आचार्यको उस अवस्थामें मार गिराया, जिसे तुमने अपनी आँखों देखा; किंतु मना नहीं किया
pātyamānas tvayā dṛṣṭo na cainaṃ tvam avārayaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “You saw him being struck down, yet you did not restrain him.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility is not limited to the doer alone: one who witnesses an unjust or cruel act and fails to restrain it may share ethical blame. The verse highlights the duty to intervene—or at least to protest—when wrongdoing is seen directly.
In the Shalya Parva’s battlefield context, Sañjaya reports a pointed reproach: someone present had directly witnessed a warrior being brought down, yet did not prevent the act. The line functions as an accusation of allowing a condemnable deed to occur in plain sight.