Shloka 40
न्यस्यायुधं रणे विप्र द्रोण मा त्वं चिरं कृथा: । मा पापिष्ठतरं कर्म करिष्यसि पुनर्द्धिज,“विप्रवर द्रोण! रणभूमिमें अपना अस्त्र-शस्त्र रख दो, इस कार्यमें विलम्ब न करो। ब्रह्म! अब फिर ऐसा अत्यन्त पापपूर्ण कर्म न करना”
nyasyāyudhaṃ raṇe vipra droṇa mā tvaṃ ciraṃ kṛthāḥ | mā pāpiṣṭhataraṃ karma kariṣyasi punar dvija ||
Sañjaya said: “O Brahmin, Droṇa—lay down your weapons on the battlefield; do not delay in this. O twice-born, do not again commit an act even more sinful.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid war, one must recognize a moral boundary: when an action becomes pāpa (sinful, ethically blameworthy), restraint and cessation are urged. The verse frames dropping weapons as an immediate ethical corrective and warns against repeating or escalating wrongdoing.
Sañjaya reports an urgent admonition addressed to Droṇa on the battlefield: he is told to set down his weapons without delay and is cautioned not to commit another deed considered even more sinful—signaling a moment of moral crisis within the ongoing combat.