Shloka 25

Devanagari script

यदि क्षत्रबन्धूनां स्वधर्ममनुतिष्ठताम्‌

Transliteration

yadi kṣatrabandhūnāṃ svadharmam anutiṣṭhatām

Translation

Sañjaya said: “If those who are merely ‘kinsmen of kṣatriyas’ yet claim the warrior’s station were to truly follow their own duty…”

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• क्षत्रबन्धूनाम्: of the kṣatra-relatives / of those who are kṣatriyas only in name
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रबन्धु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• स्वधर्मम्: one's own duty
• स्वधर्मम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वधर्म
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अनुतिष्ठताम्: let them follow / let them practice
• अनुतिष्ठताम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-स्था
• Form: Lot (Imperative), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line invokes svadharma—authentic adherence to one’s rightful duty—and implicitly criticizes those who bear the kṣatriya label without embodying its responsibilities, especially in the moral crucible of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues his report to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, introducing a conditional statement that frames a judgment about warriors’ conduct: whether those derided as ‘kṣatrabandhus’ are actually upholding the kṣatriya code of duty.