Shloka 8
राजधर्मः, दण्डनीतिः, कर्तृत्व-विचारः च
Royal Duty, Lawful Discipline, and the Question of Agency
ते त्वया धर्महन्तारो निहता: सपदानुगा:
te tvayā dharmahantāro nihatāḥ sapadānugāḥ
Those destroyers of dharma have been slain by you—together with their followers—thus restoring the moral order that they had violated.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the killing of 'dharma-destroyers' as an ethically charged act aimed at re-establishing dharma; violence is not praised in itself, but evaluated by its relation to protecting moral and social order.
Vyāsa addresses the listener (implicitly a principal agent of the conflict) and states that the enemies characterized as violators of dharma have been slain, along with their supporters—marking a transition toward reflection on the consequences and duties after the war.