Shloka 5
अनार्य॑ सुनृशंसं च धर्मपुत्रस्य मे श्रुतम् । युद्धेष्व॒पि प्रवृत्तानां ध्रुवं जयपराजयौ
sañjaya uvāca | anāryaṃ sunṛśaṃsaṃ ca dharmaputrasya me śrutam | yuddheṣv api pravṛttānāṃ dhruvaṃ jayaparājayau ||
Sañjaya said: “I have heard words from Dharmaputra that are unworthy of the noble and harshly cruel. For those who have entered into battles, victory and defeat are indeed inevitable.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a righteous person can be driven into harsh, ethically troubling speech under the pressures of war; and once one enters battle, the outcomes of victory or defeat are unavoidable, reminding one to weigh the moral cost of choosing war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that he has heard Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira) utter words that sound un-noble and cruel, and he frames this within the grim reality of warfare where combatants must face the certainty of either victory or defeat.