1.46
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः ।
धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ॥
yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraṃ śastrapāṇayaḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣemataraṃ bhavet
The last thing he asks for. Not victory. To be killed unarmed.
The verse
If the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र), weapons in hand, should kill me in battle while I am unarmed and unresisting, that would be the greater good for me.
नेपालीमा
यदि हातमा हतियार लिएका धृतराष्ट्रका छोराहरूले मलाई, निहत्था र प्रतिरोध नगर्ने भएको बेला, युद्धमा मारे भने त्यो मेरा लागि अझ ठूलो भलो हुनेछ।
Where it sits
kṣematara (क्षेमतर) answers śreyas (श्रेयस्) from 1.31. He could not see a good in killing. He can see a greater good in being killed. The comparative is doing real work: better this than the sin of 1.45. It is also the sentence of a man who has talked himself past strategy, past law, past the ancestors, into a wish to be removed. He is still speaking well. The Sanskrit is clear. The clarity is the collapse.
aśastram (अशस्त्रम्) says the bow in his hand, Gāṇḍīva (गाण्डीव), would have to be gone for this wish to be true. 1.47 puts it on the chariot floor.
Split: यदि + माम् + अप्रतीकारम् + अशस्त्रम् + शस्त्र-पाणयः + धार्तराष्ट्राः + रणे + हन्युः + तत् + मे + क्षेमतरम् + भवेत्
yadi + mām + apratīkāram + aśastram + śastra-pāṇayaḥ + dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ + raṇe + hanyuḥ + tat + me + kṣemataram + bhavet
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यदि | yadi | indeclinable | if. |
| माम् | mām | accusative | me. |
| अप्रतीकारम् | apratīkāram | accusative | unresisting. a- (अ-) plus pratīkāra (प्रतीकार), "counter-action." |
| अशस्त्रम् | aśastram | accusative | unarmed. Without a weapon. |
| शस्त्र-पाणयः | śastra-pāṇayaḥ | nominative plural, bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) | men with weapons in their hands. |
| धार्तराष्ट्राः | dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ | nominative plural | the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र). |
| रणे | raṇe | locative | in battle. |
| हन्युः | hanyuḥ | optative, 3rd plural | they should kill, they might kill. |
| तत् | tat | nominative, neuter | that. |
| मे | me | dative/genitive | for me. |
| क्षेमतरम् | kṣemataram | nominative, neuter, comparative | the more fortunate thing, a greater welfare. |
| भवेत् | bhavet | optative, 3rd singular | it would be. |
The phrases
यदि माम् अप्रतीकारम् अशस्त्रम् … हन्युः yadi mām apratīkāram aśastram … hanyuḥ is the condition. If they should kill me, unresisting, unarmed. apratīkāram (अप्रतीकारम्) and aśastram (अशस्त्रम्) agree with mām (माम्).
śastrapāṇayaḥ dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ (शस्त्रपाणयः धार्तराष्ट्राः) is the subject. The sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र), weapons in hand. dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ (धार्तराष्ट्राः) before r (र्) drops the visarga: dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe (धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे).
raṇe (रणे) is the place.
tat me kṣemataraṃ bhavet (तत् मे क्षेमतरं भवेत्) is the conclusion. That would be the greater good for me. हन्युः + तत् hanyuḥ + tat becomes hanyus tat (हन्युस् तत्), and तत् + मे tat + me becomes tan me (तन् मे). You hear hanyus tan me (हन्युस् तन् मे).
Sanskrit in this line
yadi (यदि) plus the optative is a possible future, not a fact. hanyuḥ (हन्युः) is "they might kill, should they kill." bhavet (भवेत्) is "it would be." Both halves of the conditional are in the optative. You had syāt (स्यात्) and āśrayet (आश्रयेत्) and syāma (स्याम). hanyuḥ (हन्युः) is the third person plural, and bhavet (भवेत्) is the ordinary third singular of bhū (भू). The mood is now familiar. This verse is the test of whether it is.
kṣematara (क्षेमतर) is a comparative. The suffix --tara (तर) means "more." kṣema (क्षेम) is "welfare, safety." kṣematara (क्षेमतर) is "the more fortunate thing." He does not say it is good in itself. He says it is better than the alternative he has spent the chapter describing.
Say it back
The condition, including his two adjectives, and what that outcome would be. Comparative on kṣema (क्षेम).