Shloka 16
भ्रातरं घातयित्वा कस्त्यक्त्वा रणशिरक्ष कः । त्वदन्य: कः पुमान् सत्सु ब्रूयादेवं व्यवस्थित:,तेरे सिवा दूसरा कौन ऐसा पुरुष होगा, जो अपने भाईको मरवाकर और युद्धका मुहाना छोड़कर (भाग जानेके बाद भी) भलेमानसोंके बीचमें खड़ा हो ऐसी डींग मारेगा?
arjuna uvāca |
bhrātaraṃ ghātayitvā kas tyaktvā raṇaśiraskṛtaḥ kaḥ |
tvadanyaḥ kaḥ pumān satsu brūyād evaṃ vyavasthitaḥ ||
Arjuna said: “Who, after having caused his own brother to be slain, and then abandoning the very forefront of battle, would still stand among the virtuous and boast in this manner? Other than you, what man could speak so, so brazenly and so fixed in shameless resolve?”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns two linked moral failures—instigating a brother’s death and then fleeing the battle-front—followed by the added ethical offense of boasting among the virtuous. It frames honor and accountability in war as integral to dharma, and treats shameless self-justification as a serious moral lapse.
Arjuna is speaking in a confrontational tone, rebuking an opponent for having engineered fratricide and then abandoning the battlefield, yet still speaking proudly in the company of respectable people. The line functions as a pointed moral indictment meant to expose hypocrisy and cowardice.