Shloka 6
Sahadeva on Attachment (mamatā), ‘mameti/na mameti’, and the Middle Path of Conduct
अविनाशोडस्य सत्त्वस्य नियतो यदि भारत | हत्वा शरीरं भूतानां न हिंसा प्रतिपत्स्यते,भरतनन्दन! यदि इस जीवात्माका अविनाशी होना निश्चित है, तब तो प्राणियोंके शरीरका वध करनेमात्रसे उनकी हिंसा नहीं हो सकेगी
avināśo ’sya sattvasya niyato yadi bhārata | hatvā śarīraṃ bhūtānāṃ na hiṃsā pratipatsyate ||
Sahadeva said: “O Bhārata, if it is indeed certain that this living self is imperishable, then merely by killing the bodies of beings, no real ‘injury’ would be incurred—since what truly is, cannot be destroyed.”
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral argument: if the true self (sattva/ātman) is certainly imperishable, then killing the body alone cannot constitute ultimate destruction of the person. It probes the relationship between metaphysical claims (indestructibility of the self) and ethical accountability (whether ‘hiṃsā’ is truly incurred).
In Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse on dharma after the war, Sahadeva presents a reasoning addressed to “Bhārata,” questioning how violence should be evaluated if the inner self cannot be destroyed—thus contributing to the broader debate on duty, sin, and the moral weight of killing.