Shloka 43

शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command

Devanagari script

तैः स्वयं रचितो मार्गों दुर्गमो हि पुनर्भवेत्‌ सम्पतद्धिमहावेगैर्यास्यद्धिरिह सद्गतिम्‌,“उन वीरोंने स्वयं ही जिस मार्गका निर्माण किया है, वह पुनः बड़े वेगसे सदगतिको जानेवाले बहुसंख्यक वीरोंद्वारा दुर्गण हो जाय (अर्थात्‌ इतने अधिक वीर उस मार्गसे यात्रा करें कि भीड़के मारे उसपर चलना कठिन हो जाय)

Transliteration

taiḥ svayaṃ racito mārgo durgamo hi punar bhavet | sampatadbhir mahāvegair yāsyadbhir iha sadgatiṃ ||

Translation

„Der Pfad, den jene Helden mit eigener Hand bereitet haben, mag abermals schwer zu begehen werden—gedrängt und beschwerlich—weil eine Vielzahl von Kriegern, mit gewaltigem Schwung dahinstürmend, ihn nun nimmt auf dem Weg zur ‚guten Bahn‘, dem edlen Geschick, das der Heldentod verleiht.“

Word by Word

तैःby them

स्वयम्by oneself

रचितःmade/constructed

मार्गःpath

दुर्गमःhard to traverse

हिindeed/for

पुनःagain

भवेत्would become

सम्पतद्भिःby those rushing/advancing

हिindeed

महावेगैःwith great speed

यास्यद्भिःby those who will go

इहhere

सद्गतिम्good state/destination

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames heroic death in battle as a ‘path’ leading to sadgati (a noble destiny), while also hinting at the sheer scale of slaughter: so many warriors pursue that end that the very path becomes metaphorically congested and difficult—an ethical reflection on the mass momentum of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, comments that the route to a noble end—created by the valor of earlier heroes—will be made ‘hard to traverse’ again because countless warriors are now rushing toward that same fate amid the ongoing carnage.