Shloka 36

Devanagari script

किमाश्चर्य कृतप्रज्ञ: पुरुषोडपि सुदारुण: । सुमहत्‌ प्राप्तुयात्‌ पुण्यं बलाको5न्धवधादिव

Transliteration

kim āścaryaṁ kṛtaprajñaḥ puruṣo 'pi sudāruṇaḥ | sumahat prāpnuyāt puṇyaṁ balāko 'ndhavadhād iva ||

Translation

Śrī Kṛṣṇa dit : «Qu’y a-t-il là d’étonnant ? Même un homme à la résolution ferme, fût-il d’une cruauté extrême, peut obtenir un très grand mérite—comme Balāka, par la mise à mort de l’aveugle.»

Word by Word

किम्what?

आश्चर्यम्wonder, surprise

कृतप्रज्ञःone of steady/formed understanding

पुरुषःa man, person

अपिeven, also

सुदारुणःvery cruel/terrible

सुमहत्very great (a great amount)

प्राप्तुयात्might obtain

पुण्यम्merit, virtue

बलाकof a crane (bird)

अन्धवधात्from the killing of the blind (man)

इवas if, like

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Balāka

andha (a blind person, in the illustrative reference)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Kṛṣṇa emphasizes that merit (puṇya) can arise from an act aligned with a larger dharmic necessity, even if the doer is personally harsh or morally flawed; character alone does not mechanically determine the ethical fruit of every deed.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karṇa Parva dialogue, Kṛṣṇa responds to a doubt or astonishment about how someone severe or cruel could gain merit, and he supports his point with an illustrative precedent: Balāka gaining great puṇya through the killing of a blind person.