Shloka 18
उत्पातदर्शनम् — Portents and Kāla among the Vṛṣṇis
कः क्षत्रियो5हन्यमान: सुप्तान् हन्यान्मृतानिव । तन्न मृष्यन्ति हार्दिक्य यादवा यत् त्वया कृतम्
kaḥ kṣatriyo ’hanyamānaḥ suptān hanyān mṛtān iva | tan na mṛṣyanti hārdikya yādavā yat tvayā kṛtam ||
ਵੈਸ਼ੰਪਾਯਨ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— “ਹੇ ਹਾਰਦਿਕ੍ਯ! ਹਮਲਾ ਹੋਣ ਤੇ ਵੀ ਕਿਹੜਾ ਖ਼ਸ਼ਤਰੀ ਸੁੱਤੇ ਪਏ ਮਨੁੱਖਾਂ ਨੂੰ—ਜਿਵੇਂ ਉਹ ਮਰੇ ਹੋਣ—ਮਾਰ ਦੇਵੇ? ਤੂੰ ਜੋ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ, ਯਾਦਵ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਸਹਿਣ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਨਗੇ।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in warfare, kṣatriya conduct is constrained by dharma: killing the sleeping is portrayed as adharma—an act akin to murdering the already dead—inviting moral outrage and retaliation.
Vaiśampāyana censures Hārdikya (Kṛtavarman) for a deed described as killing sleeping men; the Yādavas are said to be unable to tolerate this act, foreshadowing escalating conflict and vengeance.