Shloka 383
द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय १६२: प्रातःसंध्यायां युद्धप्रवृत्तिः तथा रजोमेघे संमूढता
स वध्य: सर्वलोकस्य यथा त्वं पुरुषाधम: । 'जो ब्राह्मण ब्राह्मणत्वका परित्याग करके क्षत्रियधर्ममें तत्पर हो, जैसा कि मनुष्योंमें अधम तू है, वह सब लोगोंके लिये वध्य है”
sa vadhyaḥ sarvalokasya yathā tvaṃ puruṣādhamaḥ | yo brāhmaṇaḥ brāhmaṇatvaṃ parityajya kṣatriyadharme tatparaḥ, yathā manuṣyeṣv adhama tvaṃ, sa sarvalokebhyo vadhyaḥ ||
“ಅವನು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ವಧ್ಯನು—ನೀನು ಪುರುಷಾಧಮನಾಗಿರುವಂತೆ. ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣತ್ವವನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸಿ ಕ್ಷಾತ್ರಧರ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗುವ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನು, ಸಮಸ್ತ ಲೋಕದ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಧಯೋಗ್ಯನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ—ನೀನು ನರಾಧಮನಾಗಿರುವಂತೆ.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a strict ethical view of varṇa-dharma: abandoning one’s ordained discipline (here, Brahminhood) to pursue the warrior’s path is portrayed as a grave transgression, inviting universal censure and even lethal sanction. It frames moral legitimacy in war not only by battlefield conduct but by fidelity to one’s rightful duty.
Sañjaya delivers a harsh denunciation to a addressed “you,” calling him the lowest of men and declaring that a Brahmin who has forsaken Brahmin conduct to act as a Kshatriya becomes ‘vadhya’—a target deemed punishable by all. The line functions as moral condemnation amid the Drona Parva’s escalating violence and contested legitimacy.