Shloka 37
यदि नाम न युध्येरन् शिक्षिता ब्रह्म॒बन्धव: । स्वकर्मभिरसंतुष्टा न स्म क्षत्रं क्षयं ब्रजेत्,“यदि शिक्षित ब्राह्मण अपने कर्मोंसे असंतुष्ट हो परधर्मका आश्रय ले युद्ध न करते तो क्षत्रियोंका यह संहार न होता
sañjaya uvāca | yadi nāma na yudhyeran śikṣitā brahmabandhavaḥ | svakarmabhir asantuṣṭā na sma kṣatraṃ kṣayaṃ brajet ||
Sañjaya dit : Si ces hommes instruits—brahmanes de nom seulement—n’avaient pas pris les armes, mécontents de leur propre devoir et se réfugiant dans la voie des guerriers, alors cette destruction funeste des kṣatriyas ne se serait pas produite.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that social and moral catastrophe follows when people abandon their own rightful duty (svadharma) out of dissatisfaction and take up another’s role (paradharma). Here, the spread of warfare is linked to ‘Brahmins in name’ adopting the Kṣatriya path, implying that misaligned vocation and motive can intensify violence and societal collapse.
Sañjaya, narrating the war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, reflects on the causes behind the massive slaughter of Kṣatriyas. He suggests that if trained men who were Brahmins only by lineage had not entered combat—having grown discontent with their own duties and taken up warrior conduct—then the present devastation of the warrior class would not have occurred.