Shloka 12
घटोत्कच-कर्णयुद्धम्
Ghaṭotkaca–Karna Combat and the Release of Śakti
'शत्रुओंको संताप देनेवाले द्रोणाचार्यने सिंधुराजको अभय-दान देकर भी किरीटधारी अर्जुनको व्यूहमें घुसनेका मार्ग दे दिया। देखो, मुझमें कितनी गुणहीनता है ।। यद्यदास्यदनुज्ञां वै पूर्वमेव गृहान् प्रति । प्रस्थातुं सिन्धुराजस्य नाभविष्यज्जनक्षय:,“यदि उन्होंने पहले ही सिंधुराजको घर जानेकी आज्ञा दे दी होती तो यह इतना बड़ा जनसंहार नहीं होता
yady adāsyad anu-jñāṁ vai pūrvam eva gṛhān prati | prasthātuṁ sindhurājasya nābhaviṣyaj jana-kṣayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: If, indeed, Duryodhana had earlier granted the Sindhu king permission to depart for his home, then this vast destruction of men would not have occurred. In this reflection, Sañjaya underscores how a single decision—whether to restrain an ally or release him—can become the moral hinge on which mass slaughter turns, and he laments the avoidable cost of pride and strategic obstinacy.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral causality in war: a leader’s earlier choice to permit de-escalation (letting an ally withdraw) could have prevented large-scale loss of life, implying accountability for avoidable violence.
Sañjaya reflects that if the Sindhu king (Jayadratha) had been allowed to leave earlier, the ensuing chain of events leading to heavy casualties would not have unfolded; it is a retrospective lament over a preventable massacre.