Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 36
Dvaipāyana-hrade Duryodhanasya Māyā — Yudhiṣṭhirasya Dharmoktiḥ (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 30)
निकृतेस्तस्य पापस्य ते पारं गमनेप्सवः । चारान् सम्प्रेषयामासु: समन्तात् तद्रणाजिरे
sañjaya uvāca |
nikṛtes tasya pāpasya te pāraṃ gamanepsavaḥ |
cārān sampreṣayāmāsuḥ samantāt tad-raṇājire, mahārāja ||
سنجے نے کہا: اے مہاراج! اُس گناہگار کی فریب کاری کا بدلہ چکا کر دشمنی کے پار گزرنے کی خواہش سے انہوں نے اسی میدانِ جنگ میں چاروں طرف جاسوس روانہ کیے۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of nikṛti (deceit) in war and frames the response as a drive to bring a feud to its 'far shore'—to settle an ethical and emotional debt—while also showing that even righteous aims are pursued through disciplined strategy (spies and reconnaissance).
Sañjaya reports that, intent on answering the opponent’s treachery and concluding their hostility, the warriors dispatched spies in all directions across the battlefield to locate and track the enemy’s position.