Shloka 64
शपे55त्मनाहं शैनेय सत्येन तपसा तथा । अहत्वा सर्वपाज्चालान् यदि शान्तिमहं लभे,'शैनेय! मैं सत्य और तपस्याकी सौगंध खाकर कहता हूँ, सम्पूर्ण पांचालोंका वध किये बिना मुझे कदापि शान्ति नहीं मिलेगी
śape ātmanāhaṃ śaineya satyena tapasā tathā | ahatvā sarvapāñcālān yadi śāntim ahaṃ labhe ||
Sañjaya said: “O Śaineya, I swear upon my very self—by truth and by austerity—that unless I have slain all the Pāñcālas, I shall never attain peace.” The utterance frames vengeance as a self-binding vow, revealing how the ethics of war can be overtaken by grief and retributive resolve, where ‘peace’ is imagined not as reconciliation but as the completion of violent duty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a vow, even when sworn ‘by truth and austerity,’ can be ethically perilous when driven by vengeance. It shows the tension between personal grief/anger and dharma: invoking sacred guarantees does not automatically sanctify an intention, and ‘peace’ sought through total annihilation signals moral and psychological captivity to retribution.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s fierce resolve addressed to Śaineya (Sātyaki): he binds himself by an oath that he will not find peace until all the Pāñcālas are slain. The statement intensifies the atmosphere of escalating retaliation in the Drona Parva’s battlefield events.