Shloka 15
Aśvatthāmā’s Buddhi-Doctrine and Nocturnal Incursion Resolve (अश्वत्थाम्नः बुद्धिविचारः सौप्तिकसंकल्पश्च)
सर्वो हि पुरुषो भोज साध्वेतदिति निश्चित: । कर्तुमारभते प्रीतो मारणादिषु कर्मसु
sarvo hi puruṣo bhoja sādhv etad iti niścitaḥ | kartum ārabhate prīto māraṇādiṣu karmasu ||
サञ्जयは言った。「おお、ボージャよ。人は皆、まず『これは善き行いだ』と定めて、満足して行為を始める。ゆえに殺害のようなこと、その他の暴力の業にさえ、喜んで取りかかってしまうのだ。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral-psychological tendency: people commonly label their intended action as ‘good’ and then proceed with confidence—even when the action is ethically grave, such as killing. It warns how inner certainty and pleasure can accompany wrongdoing when one’s judgment is distorted.
In the Sauptika Parva context, Sañjaya is describing the mindset that enables violent deeds. Addressing a listener with the vocative ‘Bhoja’ and implicitly speaking to Kṛtavarman (as indicated in the received text/tradition), he frames how perpetrators can begin even murderous acts with a sense of righteousness and satisfaction.