Shloka 28
कर्णपर्व — पञ्चदशोऽध्यायः | Karṇa Parva, Chapter 15: Pāṇḍya’s Advance and Aśvatthāmā’s Counterstroke
निर्वेष्ठ भर्तृपिण्डं हि कालोडयमुपजीविनाम् । सूक्ष्मो विवादो विप्राणां स्थूलौ क्षात्रौो जयाजयौ
nirveṣṭa-bhartṛpiṇḍaṃ hi kālo ’yam upajīvinām | sūkṣmo vivādo viprāṇāṃ sthūlau kṣātrau jayājayau ||
Sañjaya dit : «Pour ceux qui vivent en dépendant d’un seigneur, voici l’instant même de donner sens à la subsistance de leur protecteur : demeurer fermes pour sa cause. Les querelles des brahmanes sont subtiles, tranchées par le discernement et la raison ; mais pour les kshatriya, victoire et défaite sont grossières et visibles, décidées par les armes sur le champ de bataille.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts role-based dharma: Brahmins resolve conflicts through subtle means like reasoning and discernment, while Kshatriyas face concrete outcomes—victory or defeat—through armed action. It also frames a dependent’s duty as making the patron’s support ‘count’ at a decisive moment by loyal service.
Sañjaya comments on the battlefield ethos: the time has come for those sustained by their leaders to prove their worth in war. He underscores that, unlike scholarly disputes, the Kshatriya contest is settled openly by weapons, with immediate and visible results.