Shloka 56
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
ब्राहे बले भवान् युक्त: स्वाध्याये यज्ञकर्मणि । मा सम युद्ध्यस्व कौन्तेय मा सम वीरान् समासद:
brāhma-bale bhavān yuktaḥ svādhyāye yajña-karmaṇi | mā sma yuddhyasva kaunteya mā sma vīrān samāsadaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Sanjaya: “O anak ni Kunti, ikaw ay angkop sa lakas ng disiplina ng Brahmana—sa pag-aaral ng Veda at sa pagsasagawa ng mga handog na ritwal. Kaya huwag kang makipagdigma, at huwag kang humarap sa mga mandirigma.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts roles and competencies: one grounded in Brahminical discipline (Vedic study and sacrificial duty) is advised not to take up the warrior’s work of battle or to confront heroes—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring concern with svadharma (one’s proper duty) and the ethical peril of acting outside it.
Sañjaya reports a statement addressed to a ‘Kaunteya’ (a son of Kuntī), in which the addressee is discouraged from fighting and from approaching warriors, being characterized instead as skilled in Vedic study and sacrificial rites—an admonitory moment framed as counsel amid the war narrative of the Karṇa Parva.