Shloka 53
साहसं कृतवांस्त्वं तु हानुक्रोशान्नपोत्तम । 'भरतभूषण! अब हमलोग अपना कार्य कैसे सिद्ध कर सकते हैं? नृपश्रेष्ठी आपने दयावश यह दु:साहसपूर्ण कार्य कर डाला है,कि न पश्यसि मां पाप गदायुद्धे व्यवस्थितम् । हिमवच्छिखराकारां प्रगृह् महतीं गदाम् पापी! क्या तू देखता नहीं कि मैं हिमालयके शिखरकी भाँति विशाल गदा हाथमें लेकर युद्धके लिये खड़ा हूँ
sāhasaṃ kṛtavāṃs tvaṃ tu hānukrośān nṛpottama | na paśyasi māṃ pāpa gadāyuddhe vyavasthitam | himavacchikharākārāṃ praghṛhya mahatīṃ gadām ||
Sanjaya said: “O best of kings, you have acted rashly, out of misplaced pity. How are we now to accomplish our purpose? Do you not see me, you sinner, standing ready for the mace-fight—holding a massive mace, towering like a peak of the Himalaya?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between compassion and duty in a war setting: pity that disrupts rightful strategy or agreed combat can become ‘misplaced compassion’ and lead to harmful consequences. It also underscores the warrior ethic of readiness and accountability in battle.
Sanjaya reports a heated rebuke: someone addresses a king as having committed a reckless act out of pity, and then points to his own readiness for a mace-duel—standing armed with a huge mace likened to a Himalayan peak—implying that the king’s action has jeopardized their objective in the ongoing conflict.