Shloka 40

Dvaītavana: Brahmaghoṣa, Rṣi-saṅgha, and Baka Dālbhyā’s Upadeśa to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

तथैव य: क्षमाकाले क्षत्रियो नोपशाम्यति । अप्रिय: सर्वभूतानां सोअमुत्रेह च नश्यति,इसी प्रकार जो क्षत्रिय क्षमा करनेके योग्य समय आनेपर शान्त नहीं होता, वह सब प्राणियोंके लिये अप्रिय हो जाता है और इहलोक तथा परलोकमें भी उसका विनाश ही होता है

Transliteration

tathaiva yaḥ kṣamākāle kṣatriyo nopśāmyati | apriyaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ so 'mutreha ca naśyati ||

Translation

Likewise, a kṣatriya who does not become calm when the time for forgiveness has arrived becomes hateful to all beings; and he meets ruin both here in this world and there in the next.

Word by Word

तथाthus, in the same way

एवindeed, just

यःwho

क्षमाकालेat the time for forgiveness

क्षत्रियःa kshatriya (warrior/ruler)

नnot

उपशाम्यतिbecomes calm, is pacified

अप्रियःunpleasant, disliked

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

सःhe

अमुत्रthere (in the other world)

इहhere (in this world)

चand

नश्यतिperishes, is ruined

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even for a kṣatriya, strength must be governed by timing and restraint: when forgiveness is the proper course, refusing to calm down turns one into an object of universal dislike and leads to destruction in both worldly life and the afterlife.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana states a general dharma-principle within the Vana Parva discourse: he warns that a warrior who cannot subdue anger at the appropriate moment for kṣamā (forbearance) undermines social harmony and brings about his own downfall.