Shloka 30
Kuntī–Sūrya-saṃvāda: Autonomy, Reputation, and the Promise of Karṇa
न चैषा देहभेदेन हता स्यादिति मे मति: । जहि भर्तारमेवास्या हते तस्मिन् हता भवेत्,“इसके शरीरके टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर देनेसे ही इसका वध नहीं होगा, ऐसा मेरा विचार है। इसके पतिको ही मार डालिये। उसके मारे जानेपर यह स्वतः मर जायगी
na caiṣā dehabhedena hatā syād iti me matiḥ | jahi bhartāram evāsyā hate tasmin hatā bhavet ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “In my judgment, she will not be slain merely by cutting her body into pieces. Kill her husband instead; when he is killed, she will die of herself.” The statement underscores a grim ethical calculus: the woman’s life is portrayed as bound to her husband’s life, so the proposed ‘means’ of killing shifts from direct violence against her body to targeting the relational bond that sustains her.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच