Shloka 25

शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni

with Ulūka’s fall

Devanagari script

नापयाति भयात्‌ कृष्ण संग्रामाद्‌ यदि चेन्मम

Transliteration

nāpayāti bhayāt kṛṣṇa saṅgrāmād yadi cenmama

Translation

Sañjaya nói: “Hỡi Kṛṣṇa, nếu vì sợ hãi mà hắn không rút khỏi chiến trường—nếu đó là điều ta bận lòng—thì then chốt nằm ở lòng can đảm và ý chí trước những đòi hỏi khắc nghiệt của chiến tranh.”

Word by Word

• na: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na

• apayāti: goes away/withdraws
• Type: Verb
• Root: apa√yā
• Form: Lat (present indicative), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• bhayāt: from fear/out of fear
• bhayāt: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhaya
• Form: neuter, ablative, singular

• kṛṣṇa: O Krishna
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• saṅgrāmāt: from the battle
• saṅgrāmāt: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṅgrāma
• Form: masculine, ablative, singular

• yadi: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi

• cet: indeed/then (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: cet

• mama: of me/my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: asmad
• Form: genitive, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kṛṣṇa
• saṅgrāma (battle)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line foregrounds the ethical tension between fear and steadfastness in a righteous conflict: retreat motivated by fear is contrasted with the expectation of firmness in one’s martial duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events, addresses Kṛṣṇa and frames a conditional point about someone not withdrawing from the battlefield out of fear, highlighting the psychological stakes within the ongoing war.