Shloka 2
अदारा-नीति
Crisis Composure) and ‘Jaya’ Śravaṇa (Morale-Instruction
अहो क्षत्रसमाचारो यत्र मामितरं यथा । नियोजयसि युद्धाय परमातेव मां तथा,अहो! क्षत्रियोंका आचार-व्यवहार कैसा आश्चर्यजनक है, जिसमें स्थित होकर तू मुझे इस प्रकार युद्धमें लगा रही है, मानो मैं दूसरेका बेटा होऊँ और तू दूसरेकी माँ हो
aho kṣatrasamācāro yatra mām itaraṃ yathā | niyojayasi yuddhāya paramāteva māṃ tathā ||
“Alas, how astonishing is the code of conduct among kṣatriyas! Standing upon it, you are urging me into battle as though I were someone else’s son, and you were someone else’s mother.”
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension within kṣatriya-dharma: the social duty to fight can appear so forceful that it seems to eclipse even the tenderness of a mother toward her son. It invites reflection on how duty, when absolutized, can feel inhuman or alien to natural affection.
A son addresses his mother in reproach, marveling bitterly that she is urging him toward battle. He says she treats him as if he were not her own child—an expression of grief at being pressed into war under the warrior code.