Shloka 30
गदायुद्धप्रतिज्ञा — The Vow and Terms of the Mace Duel
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शल्यपर्वके अन्तर्गत गदापव॑रमें तीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
nedānīṁ jīvite buddhiḥ kāryā dharmacikīrṣayā | kṣatradharmam upāśritya tvadvidhena suyodhana ||
ataḥ tvaṁ bhayam apāsya uttiṣṭha yuddhāya | suyodhana! bhrātṝn sarvām ca senām mārayan kṣatriyadharmam āśritya sthitas tvadvidho janaḥ dharmasampādanecchayā asmin kāle kevalaṁ prāṇarakṣaṇabuddhiṁ na kartum arhati ||
三阇耶说道：“此刻并非只顾保全性命之时；既然你自认所行乃为达成‘法’（dharma），就当依止刹帝利之道。噢，苏优陀那——像你这样的人，既已立于刹帝利本分之上，使兄弟与全军尽皆丧命——此时不应只想着自保。故当抛却恐惧，起身而战。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage urges steadfastness in one’s chosen duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and rejects self-preservation as the sole motive when one has already committed to a course of action framed as ‘dharma’; fear must be set aside in favor of responsibility and consistency with one’s role.
Sañjaya addresses Suyodhana (Duryodhana) at a critical moment late in the war, pressing him to abandon fear and continue fighting, arguing that after the immense bloodshed already caused, it is unfitting for him to focus only on saving his own life.