Shloka 27
धर्मात्मानं भ्रातरं ज्येष्ठमद्य खड्गेन चैनं यदि हन्या नृवीर । धर्माद् भीतस्तत् कथं नाम ते स्यात् किंचोत्तरं वाकरिष्यस्त्वमेव
dharmātmānaṃ bhrātaraṃ jyeṣṭham adya khaḍgena cainaṃ yadi hanyā nṛvīra | dharmād bhītas tat kathaṃ nāma te syāt kiṃ cottaraṃ vā kariṣyas tvam eva ||
धर्मात्मानं भ्रातरं ज्येष्ठमद्य खड्गेन चैनं यदि हन्याः नृवीर । धर्माद्भीतस्तत् कथं नाम ते स्यात् किं चोत्तरं वा करिष्यस्त्वमेव ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in war, dharma sets limits: killing one’s righteous elder brother is a moral catastrophe that cannot be justified afterward. The verse stresses accountability—what one could possibly say or do after violating a fundamental ethical boundary.
Sañjaya poses a pointed moral counterfactual to a warrior: if, fearing dharma, he had nonetheless slain his eldest, dharma-abiding brother with a sword, what fate and what justification would remain? The question highlights the unbearable consequences of such an act.