Shloka 21
शिरस्ते पोथयिष्यामि गदया वज्कल्पया । “यदि तू पुनः मेरे समीप ऐसी बात बोलेगा तो मैं अपनी इस वज्तुल्य गदासे तेरा सिर कुचल दूँगा ।। त्वां च ब्रह्म॒हणं दृष्टवा जन: सूर्यमवेक्षते
śiraste pothayiṣyāmi gadayā vajrakalpayā | yadi tvaṁ punaḥ mama samīpe etādṛśīṁ vācaṁ vadiṣyasi tato'haṁ etayā vajratulyayā gadayā tava śiraḥ kūcayiṣyāmi || tvāṁ ca brahmahaṇaṁ dṛṣṭvā janaḥ sūryam avekṣate |
सञ्जय उवाच— गदया वज्रकल्पया शिरस्ते पोथयिष्यामि; यदि त्वं पुनर्मत्समीपे एतादृशीं वाचं वदिष्यसि। त्वां च ब्रह्महणं दृष्ट्वा जनः सूर्यमिवावेक्षते।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in wartime, speech and conduct carry moral weight: violent threats and association with grave sin (brahmahatyā) diminish one’s standing, and society instinctively recoils from those perceived as morally tainted.
Sanjaya reports a harsh warning: the speaker threatens to crush the other’s head with a thunderbolt-like mace if such words are repeated, and adds that people avert their gaze from the person as from the sun, implying fear, revulsion, or the unbearable glare of guilt.