Shloka 27

Devanagari script

पितृहन्तृनहं हत्वा पज्चालान्‌ निशि सौप्तिके । काम॑ कीट: पतड़ो वा जन्म प्राप्प भवामि वै,पिताकी हत्या करनेवाले पांचालोंका रातको सोते समय वध करके मैं भले ही दूसरे जन्ममें कीट या पतंग हो जाऊँ, सब कुछ स्वीकार है

Transliteration

pitṛhantṝn ahaṃ hatvā pāñcālān niśi sauptike | kāmaṃ kīṭaḥ pataṅgo vā janma prāpya bhavāmi vai ||

Translation

Крипа сказал: «Убив панчалов — тех, кто убил моего отца, — ночью, когда они спят, я принимаю любое последствие. Пусть даже в ином рождении мне суждено стать червём или мотыльком — да будет так».

Word by Word

पितृहन्तॄन्father-slayers (killers of my father)

अहम्I

हत्वाhaving slain

पाञ्चालान्the Panchalas

निशिat night

सौप्तिकेin the sleeping-(time/state) (i.e., while they sleep)

कामम्indeed; even if; be it so

कीटःa worm/insect

पतङ्गःa moth/winged insect

वाor

जन्मbirth

प्राप्यhaving obtained/attained

भवामिI become / I shall be

वैindeed; surely

Speaker

कृप उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kṛpa

Pāñcālas

Kṛpa’s father (unnamed here)

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 tension between personal vengeance and ethical restraint: Kṛpa frames the killing as retribution for his father’s death and declares willingness to bear severe karmic fallout (even a low rebirth), underscoring how revenge can override concern for moral consequence while still acknowledging that consequence exists.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sauptika episode, the surviving Kaurava-side warriors contemplate or justify a nocturnal attack on the sleeping Pāñcālas. Here Kṛpa states that killing them in their sleep—because they are ‘father-slayers’—is worth any personal afterlife penalty.