Shloka 8
न शोच्य: पुरुषव्याप्र यस्तदा निधनं गत: । 'पुरुषसिंह! इसमें संशय नहीं कि मेरे पिता वीरगतिको प्राप्त हुए हैं। उस समय वे मारे गये, इस बातको लेकर उनके लिये शोक करना उचित नहीं है ।। यत् तु धर्मप्रवृत्त: सन् केशग्रहणमाप्तवान्
na śocyaḥ puruṣavyāghra yastadā nidhanaṃ gataḥ | yat tu dharmapravṛttaḥ san keśagrahaṇam āptavān ||
قال سانجيا: «يا أسدَ الرجال، إن من لقي حتفه في ذلك الحين لا يُندَب. لا شكّ أن أبي نال ميتةَ الأبطال؛ ولأنه قُتل آنذاك فليس من اللائق أن أجزع عليه. غير أن أمرًا يبقى موضع نظر: مع أنه كان قائمًا على الدارما، فقد ذاق مهانةَ أن يُمسَك من شعره.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a kṣatriya-ethical stance: death met in battle, especially a ‘hero’s death,’ is not treated as grounds for lamentation. At the same time, it distinguishes between accepting death and questioning dishonor—raising a moral concern about indignity (being seized by the hair) even when one is acting in dharma.
Sañjaya addresses a ‘best of men’ and speaks about his father’s death in the war: he asserts that mourning is not appropriate because the father attained a valorous end. He then introduces a contrasting point—despite righteous conduct, the father suffered the disgrace of hair-seizure—hinting at a contested or troubling incident within the battle’s events.