Mahabharata 7.175.65 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 175, Shloka 65
नचात्र शूरान् मोक्ष्यामि न भीतान्न कृताञज्जलीन् । सवनिव वधिष्यामि राक्षसं धर्ममास्थित:
na cātra śūrān mokṣyāmi na bhītān na kṛtāñjalīn | savan iva vadhiṣyāmi rākṣasaṃ dharmam āsthitaḥ ||
ಈ ಯುದ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಯಾರನ್ನೂ ಬಿಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ—ಶೂರರನ್ನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಭೀತರನ್ನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಕೈಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಬೇಡುವವರನ್ನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ರಾಕ್ಷಸಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಆಶ್ರಯಿಸಿ, ಯಜ್ಞಬಲಿಯಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನೂ ಸಂಹರಿಸುವೆನು.
घटोत्कच उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a deliberate shift from kṣatriya ideals of restraint to “rākṣasa-dharma,” where compassion and battlefield conventions (sparing the fearful or supplicants) are rejected. It frames an ethical contrast within the epic: different codes of conduct operate in war, and adopting a harsher code intensifies destruction and moral tension.
Ghaṭotkaca declares a vow of uncompromising slaughter in the battle: he will not spare even those who are brave, terrified, or begging with folded hands. By invoking “rākṣasa-dharma,” he signals the terrifying, non-conventional mode of combat associated with rākṣasas, escalating fear and chaos among the opposing forces.
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