Shloka 11

Devanagari script

न्यस्तशस्त्रस्तु संग्रामे शक्‍्यो हन्तुं भवेन्नृभि: । आस्थीयतां जये योगो धर्ममुत्सृज्य पाण्डवा:

Transliteration

nyastaśastras tu saṅgrāme śakyo hantuṁ bhaven nṛbhiḥ | āsthīyatāṁ jaye yogo dharmam utsṛjya pāṇḍavāḥ ||

Translation

సంజయుడు అన్నాడు— సంగ్రామంలో ఆయుధాలు వదిలిన వాడిని యోధులు సంహరించగలరు. కాబట్టి, ఓ పాండవులారా, ధర్మాన్ని పక్కనబెట్టి విజయానికి ఉపాయాన్ని ఆశ్రయించండి.

Word by Word

न्यस्तशस्त्रःone who has laid down weapons (disarmed)

तुbut/indeed

संग्रामेin battle

शक्यःpossible/able (to be)

हन्तुम्to kill

भवेत्would be / could be

नृभिःby men

आस्थीयताम्let (it) be undertaken / let (one) resort to

जयेin victory / for victory

योगःmeans/strategy/effort

धर्मम्dharma/righteousness

उत्सृज्यhaving abandoned

पाण्डवाःO Pandavas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍavas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a harsh wartime ethic: once a fighter is disarmed, he becomes vulnerable and can be killed; it frames victory as something that may be pursued even by setting aside dharma, thereby exposing the tension between moral law and battlefield expediency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a counsel or sentiment arising amid the Drona-parvan fighting: the Pāṇḍavas are urged toward a victory-oriented stratagem, even if it requires abandoning righteous norms, reflecting the escalating ruthlessness of the war.