Shloka 17
साध्विदं कथ्यते वीरा यद्येवं मतिरद्य व: । युध्यध्वं सहिता यत्ता निहनिष्यामि वो रणे,“वीरो! यदि तुम्हारा ऐसा विचार है तो तुमलोगोंने यह बड़ी अच्छी बात कही है। तुम सब लोग एक साथ सावधान होकर यत्नपूर्वक युद्ध करो। मैं इस रणभूमिमें तुम सब लोगोंको मार गिराऊँगा'
sādhv idaṃ kathyate vīrā yad evaṃ matir adya vaḥ | yudhyadhvaṃ sahitā yattā nihanīṣyāmi vo raṇe ||
Sañjaya said: “Heroes, what you have said is indeed fitting—if such is your resolve today. Then fight, united and fully prepared, striving with all your effort; on this battlefield I will strike you down.” The line conveys a hard, martial ethic: once a decision for war is owned, it must be met with disciplined unity and readiness, even as it escalates the vow of mutual destruction that defines the Kurukṣetra conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a warrior-code principle: once a resolve for battle is declared, it must be carried out with unity (sahitāḥ), vigilance (yattāḥ), and full effort—while also highlighting the grave ethical weight of choosing violence, since the outcome is framed as mutual destruction.
Sañjaya reports a taunting, confrontational exchange in the war setting: the addressed warriors affirm a certain intention, and the speaker responds by approving their stated resolve and challenging them to fight together and prepared, declaring that he will kill them on the battlefield.