Shloka 386
Duryodhana-śibira-praveśaḥ — The Pāṇḍavas Enter the Kaurava Camp; The Burning of Arjuna’s Chariot
स्वधर्ममनुतिष्ठन्तो वयं चान्ये च घातिता: । 'परंतु तुम-जैसे अनार्यने कुटिल मार्गका आश्रय लेकर स्वधर्म-पालनमें लगे हुए हमलोगोंका तथा दूसरे राजाओंका भी वध करवाया है”
svadharmam anutiṣṭhanto vayaṁ cānye ca ghātitāḥ |
Sañjaya nói: “Dẫu chúng ta—và những người khác—vẫn kiên trì thực hành bổn phận chính đáng của mình, rốt cuộc vẫn bị giết.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: even those who adhere to svadharma (their rightful duty) may still meet destruction in war, highlighting the limits of moral effort amid collective violence and destiny.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, voices the tragic outcome that ‘we and others’—despite acting in accordance with their warrior-duty—were slain, conveying grief and the moral cost of the conflict.