Shloka 24
Aśvatthāmā’s Buddhi-Doctrine and Nocturnal Incursion Resolve (अश्वत्थाम्नः बुद्धिविचारः सौप्तिकसंकल्पश्च)
मैं दिव्य धनुष और दिव्य अस्त्रोंको धारण करता हूँ तो भी युद्धमें अपने पिताको अन्यायपूर्वक मारा गया देखकर यदि उसका बदला न लूँ तो वीरोंकी सभामें क्या कहूँगा? ।। सो5हमद्य यथाकाममं क्षत्रधर्ममुपास्य तम् । गन्तास्मि पदवीं राज्ञ: पितुश्चापि महात्मन:,“अतः आज मैं अपनी रुचिके अनुसार उस क्षत्रियधर्मका सहारा लेकर अपने महात्मा पिता तथा राजा दुर्योधनके पथका अनुसरण करूँगा
so 'ham adya yathākāmam kṣatradharmam upāsya tam | gantāsmi padavīṁ rājñaḥ pituś cāpi mahātmanaḥ ||
धाययञ्श्च धनुर्दिव्यं दिव्यान्यस्त्राणि चाहवे । पितरं निहतं दृष्ट्वा किं नु वक्ष्यामि संसदि ॥ सोऽहमद्य यथाकामं क्षत्रधर्ममुपाश्रितः । गन्तास्मि पदवीं राज्ञः पितुश्चापि महात्मनः ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how appeals to kṣatriya-dharma and honor can be used to justify violent retaliation; it frames revenge as ‘duty,’ revealing the ethical tension between personal grief, social expectations of warrior conduct, and the risk of adharma when vengeance becomes the motive.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s vow: after seeing his father killed unjustly and recalling his own divine weapons, he resolves to act according to kṣatriya conduct and to follow the path taken by his father and by King Duryodhana—i.e., to pursue retribution in the aftermath of the great war.