Shloka 41
यस्यार्थे शस्त्रमादाय यमपेक्ष्य च जीवसि । स चाद्य पतित: शेते पृष्ठे नावेदितस्तव
yasyārthe śastram ādāya yam apekṣya ca jīvasi | sa cādya patitaḥ śete pṛṣṭhe nāveditas tava ||
Sañjaya said: “For whose sake you took up weapons, and for whose sake you have lived on—looking even to Death itself—he now lies fallen today, stretched on his back, and you have not been informed.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of martial and worldly reliance: even the person for whose sake one bears arms and endures life in the shadow of death can suddenly fall. It highlights the ethical shock of war—attachments and loyalties are overturned by mortality, demanding sober awareness rather than complacent dependence.
Sañjaya delivers a stark report to his listener: the very person for whom the addressee has taken up weapons and persisted through peril is now slain and lying on his back, yet the addressee has not even been told. The line functions as a dramatic announcement of a crucial fall on the battlefield.