Shloka 15
“तुम अपने क्षत्रिय-धर्मको नहीं जानना चाहते। तुम्हारी ये सारी बातें मिथ्या ही हैं। एक तो हम स्वयं ही भयसे पीड़ित हो रहे हैं, ऊपरसे तुम भी अपने वाग्बाणोंद्वारा हमारे मर्मस्थानोंको छेदे डालते हो ।। वपन् व्रणे क्षारमिव क्षतानां शत्रुकर्शन । विदीर्यते मे हृदयं त्वया वाकृुशल्यपीडितम्,'शत्रुसूदन! जैसे कोई घायल मनुष्योंके घावपर नमक बिखेर दे (और वे वेदनासे छटपटाने लगें), उसी प्रकार तुम अपने वाग्बाणोंसे पीड़ित करके मेरे हृदयको विदीर्ण किये डालते हो
sañjaya uvāca | tvaṁ kṣatriya-dharmaṁ na jijñāsase; tavaitāḥ sarvā vāco mṛṣaiva | vayaṁ svayam eva bhayena pīḍyāmahe, upari ca tvaṁ vāk-śaraiḥ asmākaṁ marma-sthānāni vidhyasi || vapan vraṇe kṣāram iva kṣatānāṁ śatru-karṣaṇa | vidīryate me hṛdayaṁ tvayā vāk-kauśalya-pīḍitam ||
Sanjaya said: “You do not wish to understand the duty of a kshatriya; all your words are false. We are already tormented by fear, and on top of that you pierce our vital points with the arrows of your speech. O subduer of foes—just as one sprinkles salt upon the wounds of the injured, so my heart is being torn apart, pained by your skillful, cutting words.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns against weaponizing eloquence: harsh, skillful speech can wound as deeply as physical blows. It also frames ethical debate in wartime through kṣatriya-dharma—true duty is not merely asserted in words but understood and embodied with restraint and truthfulness.
Sanjaya reports a tense exchange in the war context: the speaker rebukes an opponent/other party for refusing to understand kṣatriya duty and for using cutting rhetoric. The emotional state is already fearful and strained, and the addressee’s words are compared to sprinkling salt on open wounds, intensifying pain.