Shloka 36

Devanagari script

कथं च निहत: पाप: पाउ्चाल्य: पशुवन्मया । शस्त्रेण विजिताललोकान्‌ नाप्नुयादिति मे मति:,“मेरा ऐसा निश्चय है कि मेरे हाथसे पशुकी भाँति मारे गये पापी पांचालराजकुमार धष्टद्यम्मको किसी तरह भी अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंद्रार मिलनेवाले पुण्यलोकोंकी प्राप्ति न हो!!

Transliteration

kathaṁ ca nihataḥ pāpaḥ pāñcālyaḥ paśuvanmayā | śastreṇa vijitāllokān nāpnuyād iti me matiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Bagaimanakah mungkin anak Pāñcāla yang berdosa itu—yang kubunuh seperti seekor binatang—dapat mencapai alam kebajikan yang diraih melalui senjata? Itulah keyakinanku yang telah tetap.”

Word by Word

कथम्how

चand

निहतःslain

पापःsinful, wicked

पाञ्चाल्यःthe Panchala prince (Dhrishtadyumna)

पशुवत्like an animal

मयाby me

शस्त्रेणwith a weapon

विजित-लोकान्the worlds won (by valor/arms)

नnot

आप्नुयात्should attain

इतिthus

मेmy

मतिःopinion, resolve

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāñcālya (the Pāñcāla prince—Dhraṣṭadyumna in context)

śastra (weapons)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical idea that the manner of killing matters: merit-bearing “worlds” are associated with righteous combat, whereas a beast-like killing is viewed as sinful and not a source of heavenly reward.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a speaker’s grim resolve: having killed the Pāñcāla prince in a degrading, non-heroic way, he believes the victim should not gain the heavenly realms typically won by warriors through honorable use of weapons.