Shloka 14
अध्याय १४६ — निशायां सात्यकिदुर्योधनयुद्धम् / Chapter 146 — Night Battle: Sātyaki and Duryodhana; Śakuni’s Encirclement of Arjuna
मध्ये राजसहस्राणां प्रेक्षकाणां समन्तत: । कृपया च पुनस्तेन स जीवेति विसर्जित:
madhye rāja-sahasrāṇāṃ prekṣakāṇāṃ samantataḥ | kṛpayā ca punas tena sa jīveti visarjitaḥ ||
राजसहस्राणां मध्ये प्रेक्षकाणां समन्ततः स्थितानाम्, स तेन कृपया पुनरपि “जीवतु” इति मत्वा विसृष्टः।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a battlefield culture that often rewards decisive killing, the verse highlights kṛpā (compassion) as a conscious ethical intervention: choosing to spare life can be a morally significant act, especially when done openly under the gaze of many.
Sañjaya reports that, surrounded by many kings and spectators, a combatant who had the power to kill instead releases his opponent (or captive) again, explicitly motivated by compassion—‘let him live.’