Shloka 5
“मधुसूदन! और भी बहुत-से वीरोंको संग्राममें कौरवोंने मारा और हमने कौरव सैनिकोंका संहार किया ।। अर्थहेतोर्नरश्रेष्ठ क्रियते कर्म कुत्सितम् । धिगर्थान् यत्कृते होवं क्रियते ज्ञातिसंक्षय:,“नरश्रेष्ठल धनके लिये यह कुत्सित कर्म किया जा रहा है। धिक््कार है उस धनको, जिसके लिये इस प्रकार जाति-भाइयोंका विनाश किया जाता है
sañjaya uvāca | madhusūdana! anye 'pi bahavo vīrāḥ saṅgrāme kauravaiḥ hatāḥ, vayaṃ ca kaurava-sainikānāṃ saṃhāraṃ kṛtavantaḥ | artha-hetoḥ nara-śreṣṭha kriyate karma kutsitam | dhig arthān yat-kṛte hy evaṃ kriyate jñāti-saṃkṣayaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: “O Madhusudana! Many other heroes too have been slain in battle by the Kauravas, and we in turn have destroyed Kaurava soldiers. O best of men, for the sake of wealth this disgraceful deed is being done. Shame on that wealth for whose sake such a ruin of one’s own kinsmen is brought about.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns warfare motivated by artha (material gain). It frames such violence as ‘kutsita karma’ (reprehensible action) and declares that wealth is not worth the jñāti-saṃkṣaya (destruction of one’s own kin/community), foregrounding an ethical critique of greed-driven conflict.
Sanjaya reports to the listener that many warriors have been killed on both sides—Kauravas killing numerous heroes and the opposing side slaughtering Kaurava troops. In the midst of this grim tally, he voices a moral lament, addressing Krishna as Madhusudana and decrying the war’s material motivations and its cost in kinship bonds.