Shloka 50

Devanagari script

एतत्‌ क्षेममहं मन्ये न च पार्थश्च विग्रहम्‌ । नत्वां ब्रवीमि कार्पण्यान्न प्राणपरिरक्षणात्‌

Transliteration

etat kṣemam ahaṃ manye na ca pārthaś ca vigraham | na tvāṃ bravīmi kārpaṇyān na prāṇaparirakṣaṇāt ||

Translation

Sañjaya disse: “Considero este caminho o mais seguro e o mais salutar, e não penso que Pārtha (Arjuna) deva entrar em contenda. Digo-te isto não por covarde desalento, nem por desejo de preservar a minha própria vida.”

Word by Word

एतत्this (thing)

क्षेमम्welfare, safety

अहम्I

मन्येI think, I consider

नnot

चand

पार्थःPartha (Arjuna)

चand

विग्रहम्conflict, quarrel, battle

नnot

त्वाम्you

ब्रवीमिI say, I tell

कार्पण्यात्from cowardice, out of wretchedness

नnot

प्राण-परिरक्षणात्from (the motive of) safeguarding life

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pārtha (Arjuna)

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 distinguishes prudent restraint from cowardice: advising a safer, welfare-oriented course and discouraging needless conflict is ethically valid when motivated by kṣema (the common good) rather than by kārpaṇya (faint-heartedness) or fear for one’s own life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, while reporting events and counsel in the war context, states his judgment that it is better and safer not to provoke or enter into a direct quarrel with Pārtha (Arjuna), and he clarifies that his advice is not driven by personal fear or self-preservation.