Shloka 64
जहि कृष्णौ महाबाहो धर्मराजं च मातुल । नकुलं सहदेवं च भीमसेनं तथैव च,“मेरे महाबाहु मामा! तुम श्रीकृष्ण, अर्जुन, धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर, नकुल, सहदेव तथा भीमसेनको भी मार डालो
sañjaya uvāca | jahi kṛṣṇau mahābāho dharmarājaṃ ca mātula | nakulaṃ sahadevaṃ ca bhīmasenaṃ tathaiva ca ||
Sañjaya said: “O mighty-armed uncle, slay both Kṛṣṇa and (Arjuna) Kṛṣṇa, and also Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira); slay Nakula and Sahadeva, and Bhīmasena as well.” The utterance reflects the war’s ruthless escalation, where kinship terms like ‘uncle’ are invoked even while urging the annihilation of the principal upholders of dharma on the Pāṇḍava side.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the heat of war, ethical boundaries can collapse: even revered figures and close kin are named as targets. It implicitly contrasts the ideal of dharma (restraint, righteousness) with the war-driven impulse toward total destruction.
Sañjaya reports a command or exhortation addressed to a ‘maternal uncle’—a senior warrior—urging him to kill the leading Pāṇḍava figures: Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, Yudhiṣṭhira, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Bhīma, indicating an intensified attempt to eliminate the Pāṇḍava leadership.