Shloka 35
त॑ तथैव हनिष्यामि न्यस्तथर्माणमद्य वै | पुत्र पाउ्चालराजस्य पाप॑ पापेन कर्मणा,“अतः धर्मका परित्याग करनेवाले उस पापी पांचालराजकुमारको भी मैं उसी प्रकार पापकर्मद्वारा ही मार डालूँगा
taṁ tathaiva haniṣyāmi nyastadharmāṇam adya vai | putraṁ pāñcālarājasya pāpaṁ pāpena karmaṇā ||
“That man too—who has cast aside dharma—I shall kill today, in the very same manner: the sinful son of the king of the Pāñcālas, by a sinful deed in return.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral inversion: when someone abandons dharma, the speaker justifies responding with similarly sinful means (“pāpa by pāpa”). It highlights the ethical collapse typical of the Sauptika episode, where vengeance and expediency override righteous conduct.
Sañjaya reports a vow-like statement: the speaker declares that he will kill the Pāñcāla king’s son that very day, describing him as one who has forsaken dharma, and explicitly stating the killing will be carried out through a sinful act as retaliation.