Shloka 4

Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 72 — Bhīmasena’s counsel on conciliation and Duryodhana’s disposition

Devanagari script

जयो वधो वा संग्रामे धात्रा5डदिष्ट: सनातन: । स्वधर्म: क्षत्रियस्यैष कार्पण्यं न प्रशस्यते,उसके लिये विधाताने यही सनातन कर्तव्य बताया है कि वह संग्राममें विजय प्राप्त करे अथवा वहीं प्राण दे दे। यही क्षत्रियका स्वधर्म है। दीनता अथवा कायरता उसके लिये प्रशंसाकी वस्तु नहीं है

Transliteration

jayo vadho vā saṅgrāme dhātrā diṣṭaḥ sanātanaḥ | svadharmaḥ kṣatriyasyaiṣa kārpaṇyaṃ na praśasyate ||

Translation

യുദ്ധത്തിൽ ജയമോ മരണമോ—ധാത്രാവ് ഇതിനെ ശാശ്വതവിധിയായി നിശ്ചയിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. ഇതാണ് ക്ഷത്രിയന്റെ സ്വധർമ്മം; കാർപണ്യം (ദീനത) പ്രശംസനീയമല്ല.

Word by Word

जयःvictory

वधःdeath/slaying

वाor

संग्रामेin battle

धात्राby the Ordainer/Creator

आदिष्टःordained/commanded

सनातनःeternal/ancient

स्वधर्मःone's own duty

क्षत्रियस्यof a kshatriya

एषःthis

कार्पण्यम्cowardice/pusillanimity

नnot

प्रशस्यतेis praised/approved

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhātṛ (the Creator/Ordainer)

kṣatriya (warrior class)

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?

A kṣatriya should uphold svadharma in war: accept that battle yields either victory or death as divinely ordained, and avoid kārpaṇya—cowardly self-pity or faint-heartedness—which is ethically blameworthy for a warrior.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira articulates the warrior code in the context of impending conflict, framing the coming battle as a realm where the Creator has set the outcome as either triumph or death, and urging steadfastness rather than timidity.