Shloka 52
अम्बा–राम–भीष्म संवादः
Amba–Rama–Bhishma Dialogue on Vow and Refuge
ब्रह्महत्या न तस्य स्यादिति धर्मेषु निश्चय: । क्षत्रियाणां स्थितो धर्मे क्षत्रियोडस्मि तपोधन,“यदि ब्राह्मण भी क्षत्रियकी भाँति धनुष-बाण उठाकर युद्धमें क्रोधपूर्वक सामने आकर युद्ध करने लगे और पीठ दिखाकर भागे नहीं तो उसे इस दशामें देखकर जो योद्धा मार डालता है, उसे ब्रह्महत्याका दोष नहीं लगता, यह धर्मशास्त्रोंका निर्णय है। तपोधन! मैं क्षत्रिय हूँ और क्षत्रियोंके ही धर्ममें स्थित हूँ
brahmahatyā na tasya syād iti dharmeṣu niścayaḥ | kṣatriyāṇāṃ sthito dharme kṣatriyo ’smi tapodhana |
罗摩说道：“诸《法论》在此事上裁断分明：若有婆罗门采取刹帝利的战斗方式——执弓挟箭，含怒前进而战，不背身逃遁——那么战士见其处于此等情状而将其诛杀，并不招致‘杀婆罗门’之罪。噢，苦行功德深厚者，我乃刹帝利，安立于刹帝利之法。”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral culpability is assessed by role and conduct in a given situation: when a Brahmin adopts the kṣatriya’s battlefield posture and engages as a combatant, the act of killing him in that combat is treated under the rules of war rather than as brahmahatyā; the speaker grounds this in dharma-textual precedent and affirms his own kṣatriya duty.
Rāma addresses an ascetic (tapodhana) and justifies a wartime ethical rule: he states that dharma authorities hold that killing a Brahmin who has entered battle like a kṣatriya does not bring the specific sin of Brahmin-slaying, and he frames his stance as consistent with his identity and obligations as a kṣatriya.