Shloka 32

Devanagari script

निस्संशयं वध: पुंसां स्त्रीणां संशयितो वध: । अतो मामेव धर्मज्ञ प्रस्थापयितुमहसि,पुरुष वहाँ जायूँ, तो वह राक्षस उनका वध कर ही डालेगा इसमें संशय नहीं है; परंतु स्त्रियोंके वधमें संदेह है। (यदि राक्षसने धर्मका विचार किया तो मेरे बच जानेकी आशा है) अतः धर्मज्ञ आर्यपुत्र! आप मुझे ही वहाँ भेजें

Transliteration

niḥsaṁśayaṁ vadhaḥ puṁsāṁ strīṇāṁ saṁśayito vadhaḥ | ato mām eva dharmajña prasthāpayitum arhasi |

Translation

“There is no doubt that men will be slain; but the killing of women is uncertain. Therefore, O knower of dharma, you ought to send me there instead.”

Word by Word

• निःसंशयम्: undoubtedly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: निःसंशय (प्रातिपदिक)

• वधः: killing, death
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पुंसाम्: of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुंस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• स्त्रीणाम्: of women
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• संशयितः: doubtful, uncertain
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संशयित (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त from धातु √शी/√शि? here adjectival 'doubtful')
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वधः: killing, death
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अतः: therefore, hence
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अतः (अव्यय)

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Accusative, Singular

• एव: indeed, only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)

• धर्मज्ञ: O knower of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्मज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• प्रस्थापयितुम्: to send forth, to dispatch
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-स्था √स्था (धातु); प्रस्थापयितुम् (तुमुन् infinitive, causative of √स्था)
• Form: Infinitive (Tumun)

• अर्हसि: you ought, you are fit
• Type: Verb
• Root: √अर्ह् (धातु)
• Form: Present (Lat), Second, Singular

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (speaker)
• धर्मज्ञ (addressee, unspecified in the verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical argument grounded in dharma: when harm seems inevitable for one group (men) but uncertain for another (women), one should choose the course that minimizes likely wrongdoing and protects the more vulnerable, even at personal cost.

What is happening in the narrative?

A brāhmaṇa speaks to a dharma-knowing noble, urging that he himself be sent in place of others. He reasons that a violent adversary will certainly kill a man, whereas the killing of women is not certain; thus he offers himself as the one to go.