Shloka 55
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
प्रजह्यात् समरं भीत:ः प्राणान् रक्षन् महाहवे । न भवान क्षत्रधर्मेषु कुशलो हीति मे मति:
sañjaya uvāca | prajah yāt samaraṁ bhītaḥ prāṇān rakṣan mahāhave | na bhavān kṣatradharmeṣu kuśalo hīti me matiḥ, rājan |
Sañjaya nói: “Vì sợ hãi, mong giữ mạng trong đại chiến ấy, hắn sẽ bỏ trận. Theo phán đoán của ta, tâu Đại vương, ngài không tinh thông bổn phận của một kṣatriya.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames kṣatriya-dharma as steadfastness in battle: abandoning the fight out of fear to save one’s life is portrayed as a failure of warrior duty, and the speaker judges such conduct as lack of proficiency in that dharma.
Sañjaya reports a harsh assessment addressed to the king: in the midst of the great war, someone is criticized as fearful and likely to quit the battlefield, and is explicitly judged unskilled in kṣatriya conduct.