Shloka 14

Devanagari script

येषामर्थाय पापं स्थाद्‌ विजयस्य सुहृद्वधैः । निर्जितिरप्रमत्ति्हि वेजिता जितकाशिन:,“जिन्हें विजयके लिये सुहृदोंके वधका पाप करना पड़ता है, वे एक बार विजयलक्ष्मीसे उललसित भले ही हो जायँ, अन्तमें पराजित होकर सतत सावधान रहनेवाले शत्रुओंके हाथसे उन्हें पराजित होना ही पड़ता है

Transliteration

yeṣām arthāya pāpaṁ syād vijayasya suhṛd-vadhaiḥ | nirjitir apramattir hi vejītā jitakāśinaḥ ||

Translation

スータは語った。「勝利のために、己に善意を寄せる友を殺して罪を負う者は、しばしは凱旋の輝きに酔いしれるであろう。だが終には必ず屈する—常に警戒を怠らぬ敵の手に敗れる—その勝利は罪に染まり、長くは立ち得ぬからである。」

Word by Word

येषाम्of whom/for whom

अर्थायfor the sake (of victory/goal)

पापम्sin

स्यात्would be/should be

विजयस्यof victory

सुहृद्-वधैःby the killing of friends

निर्जितिःdefeat

अप्रमत्तिःvigilance

हिindeed/for

वेजिताagitated/overpowered

जित-काशिनःthose who appear as victors / having the semblance of victory

Speaker

सूत उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sūta

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Victory gained through adharma—especially by harming one’s own friends and well-wishers—may bring brief exhilaration, but it is unstable; moral taint invites eventual downfall, often at the hands of vigilant opponents.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sauptika Parva context, the narrator (Sūta) reflects on the consequences of ruthless, unethical conduct in war, warning that triumph achieved through sinful means turns into eventual defeat.