Shloka 46
इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्
Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment
भार्यभिहर्ता वैरी यो यश्व राज्यहरो रिपु: | याचमानोडपि संग्रामे न मोक्तव्य: कथंचन,“जो अपनी पत्नीका अपहरण करनेवाला तथा राज्यको हड़प लेनेवाला हो, ऐसे शत्रुको युद्धमें पाकर वह प्राणोंकी भीख माँगे तो भी किसी तरह जीवित नहीं छोड़ना चाहिये”
bhāryābhihartā vairī yo yaśva rājya-haro ripuḥ | yācamāno 'pi saṅgrāme na moktavyaḥ kathaṃcana ||
Wika ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: “Ang kaaway na dumukot sa asawa at ang kaaway na umagaw sa kaharian—kapag ang gayong tao’y nasalubong sa digmaan, kahit magmakaawa pa siya para sa kanyang buhay, hindi siya dapat patawarin sa anumang paraan.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a strict kṣatriya ethic: certain grave offenses—abducting a wife and usurping a kingdom—place an enemy beyond the mercy normally shown to a supplicant in battle; even if he begs, he is not to be spared.
Vaiśaṃpāyana, as narrator, states a rule of conduct for warfare: when confronting in combat an enemy guilty of wife-abduction or kingdom-usurpation, the warrior should not release him alive, even upon his plea for life.