Shloka 39
द्वैपायनह्रदे दुर्योधनान्वेषणम् / The Search for Duryodhana at Dvaipāyana Lake
तमागम्य महाप्राज्ञ: कृष्णद्वैपायनो<ब्रवीत् । मुच्यतां संजयो जीवन्न हन्तव्य: कथंचन,उस समय महाज्ञानी श्रीकृष्णद्वैयायन व्यासजी सहसा आकर बोले--'संजयको जीवित छोड़ दो। यह किसी प्रकार वधके योग्य नहीं है”
tam āgamya mahāprājñaḥ kṛṣṇadvaipāyano ’bravīt | mucyatāṃ sañjayo jīvan na hantavyaḥ kathaṃcana ||
Then the great sage Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa) suddenly arrived and declared: “Release Sañjaya alive. He must not be slain under any circumstances.” In the midst of war’s fury, Vyāsa’s command asserts a higher ethical restraint—protecting a non-combatant messenger and upholding dharma over vengeance.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid justified anger in war, dharma demands restraint: a messenger/narrator like Sañjaya is not to be killed. Vyāsa’s intervention elevates moral law above retaliation and emphasizes protection of those not engaged as combatants.
Sañjaya has come into a tense wartime situation where he could be harmed. At that moment Vyāsa arrives and explicitly commands that Sañjaya be released alive, declaring him not fit to be slain in any manner.