Shloka 45
घातयित्वा वयस्यांश्न भ्रातूनथ पितामहान् । जीवितं यदि रक्षेयं लोको मां गर्हयेद् ध्रुवम्,“मित्रों, भाइयों और पितामहोंको मरवाकर यदि मैं अपने प्राणोंकी रक्षा करूँ तो सारा संसार निश्चय ही मेरी निनदा करेगा
ghātayitvā vayasyān bhrātṝn atha pitāmahān | jīvitaṁ yadi rakṣeyaṁ loko māṁ garhayet dhruvam ||
Sanjaya said: 'If, after having my friends, brothers, and grandsires slain, I were to preserve my own life, then surely the whole world would condemn me.'
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical constraint on self-preservation: saving one’s own life at the cost of causing the death of close relations and revered elders is portrayed as adharma, bringing inevitable public censure. It frames honor and moral accountability as weightier than mere survival.
In the Shalya Parva war context, the speaker (as reported by Sanjaya) expresses a moral hesitation: the idea of remaining alive after orchestrating the killing of friends, brothers, and grandsires is intolerable because it would invite universal blame. The line conveys the psychological and ethical pressure felt amid kin-slaying in the Kurukshetra war.