Shloka 3
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
पश्य मां त्वं रणे पाप चक्षुविषयमागतम् | त्वं हि मूलमनर्थानां वैरस्थ कलहस्य च
sañjaya uvāca | paśya māṁ tvaṁ raṇe pāpa cakṣu-viṣayam āgatam | tvaṁ hi mūlam anarthānāṁ vairasya kalahasya ca ||
“Look at me, you sinner, here on the battlefield—come within the range of your very eyes. For you are indeed the root of these calamities, and the very source of this enmity and strife.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral responsibility in war: a single agent’s choices can become the ‘root’ (mūla) of widespread calamity, enmity, and social breakdown, emphasizing accountability for instigating conflict.
In Sañjaya’s narration, a warrior confronts an opponent on the battlefield, demanding that he look directly at him and accusing him of being the primary cause of the ongoing disasters and factional strife.