Shloka 24
Aśvatthāmā’s Buddhi-Doctrine and Nocturnal Incursion Resolve (अश्वत्थाम्नः बुद्धिविचारः सौप्तिकसंकल्पश्च)
मैं दिव्य धनुष और दिव्य अस्त्रोंको धारण करता हूँ तो भी युद्धमें अपने पिताको अन्यायपूर्वक मारा गया देखकर यदि उसका बदला न लूँ तो वीरोंकी सभामें क्या कहूँगा? ।। सो5हमद्य यथाकाममं क्षत्रधर्ममुपास्य तम् । गन्तास्मि पदवीं राज्ञ: पितुश्चापि महात्मन:,“अतः आज मैं अपनी रुचिके अनुसार उस क्षत्रियधर्मका सहारा लेकर अपने महात्मा पिता तथा राजा दुर्योधनके पथका अनुसरण करूँगा
so 'ham adya yathākāmam kṣatradharmam upāsya tam | gantāsmi padavīṁ rājñaḥ pituś cāpi mahātmanaḥ ||
“纵然我执持天弓与天兵，若在战场上见父亲被不义所杀而不复仇，我在勇士的会堂中又能说什么？因此今日，我将随己之决意，依止刹帝利之法，踏上国王与我那伟大父亲所行之路。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how appeals to kṣatriya-dharma and honor can be used to justify violent retaliation; it frames revenge as ‘duty,’ revealing the ethical tension between personal grief, social expectations of warrior conduct, and the risk of adharma when vengeance becomes the motive.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s vow: after seeing his father killed unjustly and recalling his own divine weapons, he resolves to act according to kṣatriya conduct and to follow the path taken by his father and by King Duryodhana—i.e., to pursue retribution in the aftermath of the great war.