Shloka 273
एवं व्युत्क्रान्तधर्मेण व्युत्क्रम्य समयं हत: । “जैसे कोई सोये अथवा पागल हुए मनुष्यको मार दे या धोखेसे जहर देकर किसीकी हत्या कर डाले
evaṁ vyutkrāntadharmeṇa vyutkramya samayaṁ hataḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Thus, by one who has fallen away from dharma—having transgressed the agreed rule of combat—I have been struck down.” The line frames the killing as not merely a battlefield defeat but an ethical breach: the speaker presents the blow as violating the accepted code (samaya) of the mace-duel, thereby casting the act as adharma rather than legitimate victory.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that in dharma-based warfare, legitimacy depends not only on winning but on honoring agreed rules (samaya). A victory gained by violating the code is portrayed as ethically tainted, and the language ‘vyutkrāntadharma’ marks such conduct as a departure from righteous order.
Sañjaya reports a killing/defeat described as occurring through a breach of the established terms of combat. The speaker characterizes the blow as one delivered after transgressing the duel’s convention, emphasizing moral controversy rather than mere martial outcome.