Shloka 14

Devanagari script

स्वधर्म नेच्छसे ज्ञातुं मिथ्यावचनमेव ते । भयार्दितानामस्माकं वाचा मर्माणि कृन्तसि

Transliteration

svadharma necchase jñātuṁ mithyāvacanam eva te | bhayārditānām asmākaṁ vācā marmāṇi kṛntasi ||

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ನೀನು ನಿನ್ನ ಸ್ವಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯಲು ಇಚ್ಛಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ; ನಿನ್ನ ಮಾತುಗಳು ಮಿಥ್ಯ ಮಾತ್ರ. ನಾವು ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಭಯದಿಂದ ಪೀಡಿತರಾಗಿದ್ದೇವೆ; ಮೇಲಾಗಿ ನೀನು ನಿನ್ನ ವಚನಗಳಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ಮರ್ಮಸ್ಥಾನಗಳನ್ನು ಕತ್ತರಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವೆ.

Word by Word

स्वधर्मम्one's own duty

नnot

इच्छसेyou wish/desire

ज्ञातुम्to know

मिथ्यावचनम्false speech/lying statement

एवindeed/only

तेof you/your

भयार्दितानाम्of (those) afflicted by fear

अस्माकम्of us/our

वाचाwith speech/with words

मर्माणिvital spots/sensitive points

कृन्तसिyou cut/tear

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns abandoning svadharma and choosing untruthful speech; it highlights that words can become ethically harmful weapons, especially against those already weakened by fear.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya rebukes an interlocutor for refusing to discern proper duty and for speaking falsely; he describes such speech as wounding the vulnerable ‘vital points’ of their side, already distressed by fear amid the war’s crisis.