Shloka 27
ब्राह्मणा: कुरुमुख्यस्य ये मुक्ता हपसारिण: । कुर्वन्ति शान्तिं कामस्य रणे यो5यं मया हत:,'कुरुश्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिरके घोड़ेके पीछे-पीछे चलनेवाले जो ब्राह्मणलोग शान्तिकर्म करनेके लिये नियुक्त हुए हैं, वे इनके लिये कौन-सी शान्ति करते थे, जो ये रणभूमिमें मेरेद्वारा मार डाले गये!
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
brāhmaṇāḥ kurumukhyasya ye muktāḥ apasāriṇaḥ |
kurvanti śāntiṃ kāmasya raṇe yo ’yaṃ mayā hataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of the Kurus, the Brāhmaṇas who had been appointed to accompany the foremost Kuru (the king) and who were engaged in performing pacificatory rites—what kind of ‘śānti’ were they carrying out for this one, who has been slain by me on the battlefield? (If such rites were in force, how did this death occur?)”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between ritual protection (śānti-karman) and the inexorability of fate/karma in wartime: even when priests perform pacificatory rites for auspicious outcomes, violence and death may still occur, prompting reflection on the limits of ritual versus ethical action and destiny.
In the Aśvamedhika context, priests are described as accompanying the royal enterprise and performing śānti rites. The speaker points out that a person has nevertheless been slain in battle by him, questioning what pacificatory rite was being done for that person if it did not avert the fatal outcome.