Shloka 273
कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter
“माननीय नरेश! मैं तो आपके ही भरोसे युद्धमें मारे गये अपने वीर भाइयों तथा समस्त राजाओंके (ऋणसे मुक्त होनेके लिये उन्हींके) पथपर चलनेकी इच्छा करता हूँ”
mānanīya nareśa! ahaṃ tu tavaiva bharose yuddhe māritān svān vīra-bhrātṝn tathā samastān rājñāṃ (ṛṇāt mukta-bhavituṃ teṣām eva) patham anugantum icchāmi.
Sañjaya said: “O venerable king, relying solely upon you, I too wish to follow the very path taken by my heroic brothers and by all those kings who have fallen in battle—so that, freed from the burden of obligation, I may go where they have gone.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death in battle as a morally charged ‘path’ associated with kṣatriya duty and the settling of obligations (ṛṇa). It also highlights dependence on rightful authority and the desire to be released from burdens through fulfilling one’s perceived duty.
Sañjaya addresses the king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), expressing that, trusting in him, he wishes to follow the course taken by his slain heroic brothers and the many kings killed in the war—implying a readiness to embrace the same fate and to be freed from the weight of obligation.