Shloka 38
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
अवध्यानां वध कृत्वा राज्यं वा नरकोत्तरम्
avadhyānāṁ vadhaṁ kṛtvā rājyaṁ vā narakottaram
Sañjaya said: “Having slain those who ought not to be slain, one may gain a kingdom—yet it becomes a ‘hell-excelling’ reward, for sovereignty purchased by unrighteous killing turns into a moral and spiritual downfall.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even if unrighteous violence yields political success, the act of killing those protected by dharma corrupts that success and brings severe karmic and ethical consequences—making the ‘gain’ effectively hellish.
Sañjaya, narrating events and reflections from the battlefield context, frames the moral cost of war: the prospect of winning a kingdom is weighed against the grave wrongdoing of slaying those who should not be slain.