Shloka 46
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
हमारे विरोधियोंमें अधिकांश हमारे भाई-बन्धु, सहायक और गुरुजन हैं। उनका वध तो बहुत बड़ा पाप है। युद्धमें अच्छी बात क्या है? (कुछ नहीं) ।। पाप: क्षत्रियधर्मो5यं वयं च क्षत्रबन्धव: । स नः स्वधर्मो<धर्मो वा वृत्तिरन्या विगर्हिता,क्षत्रियोंका यह (युद्धरूप) धर्म पापरूप ही है। हम भी क्षत्रिय ही हैं, अतः वह हमारा स्वधर्म पाप होनेपर भी हमें तो करना ही होगा, क्योंकि उसे छोड़कर दूसरी किसी वृत्तिको अपनाना भी निन्दाकी बात होगी
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | pāpaḥ kṣatriyadharmo ’yaṃ vayaṃ ca kṣatrabandhavaḥ | sa naḥ svadharmo ’dharmaḥ vā vṛttir anyā vigarhitā ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “This kṣatriya-duty of war seems to me sinful, and we too are bound to the kṣatriya order. Yet for us it is our own ordained duty—even if it appears unrighteous—for adopting any other livelihood in its place would be a matter of reproach.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a classic dharma-conflict: war may appear sinful when it involves killing one’s own kin, yet a kṣatriya is socially and ritually bound to the duty of fighting when required; abandoning that role for another livelihood is portrayed as censurable.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Yudhiṣṭhira voices moral anguish about the coming conflict, acknowledging both the apparent sinfulness of warfare and the pressure of svadharma that compels the Pāṇḍavas toward battle.