Shloka 14
अध्याय १४६ — निशायां सात्यकिदुर्योधनयुद्धम् / Chapter 146 — Night Battle: Sātyaki and Duryodhana; Śakuni’s Encirclement of Arjuna
मध्ये राजसहस्राणां प्रेक्षकाणां समन्तत: । कृपया च पुनस्तेन स जीवेति विसर्जित:
madhye rāja-sahasrāṇāṃ prekṣakāṇāṃ samantataḥ | kṛpayā ca punas tena sa jīveti visarjitaḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。「幾千の王たちのただ中で、見物人が四方を取り巻くその場において、彼はなおも慈悲ゆえに解き放たれた。『生かしておけ』との思いからである。この瞬間は、戦の苛烈な理と公衆の視線の中にあっても、意志ある憐れみが全滅に抗して道徳的選択を打ち立てうることを示している。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a battlefield culture that often rewards decisive killing, the verse highlights kṛpā (compassion) as a conscious ethical intervention: choosing to spare life can be a morally significant act, especially when done openly under the gaze of many.
Sañjaya reports that, surrounded by many kings and spectators, a combatant who had the power to kill instead releases his opponent (or captive) again, explicitly motivated by compassion—‘let him live.’