Shloka 27
सुप्तं वाथ प्रमत्तं वा यथा हन्याद् विषेण वा
suptaṁ vātha pramattaṁ vā yathā hanyād viṣeṇa vā
संजय म्हणाला: “जसा कोणी झोपलेल्या किंवा बेसावध माणसाला मारून टाकावा—किंवा विष देऊन नष्ट करावा—तशीच ही वधाची रीती सांगितली जाते,” म्हणजेच क्षत्रधर्माला बाधक, निंद्य व गुप्त कृत्य।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that killing someone who is asleep or inattentive—especially by covert means like poison—is ethically blameworthy in the Mahābhārata’s war-ethics framework, contrasting stealthy harm with righteous, face-to-face combat.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, uses a comparison: slaying an unguarded person (asleep or careless) or poisoning him exemplifies an underhanded method of killing, invoked to judge or characterize conduct in the unfolding battle context.