Shloka 11
Saṃśaptaka-Varūthinī Saṅgrāma — Binding and Counter-Binding (संशप्तक-वरूथिनी-संग्रामः)
दद्यां तस्मै सवत्सानां यो मे ब्रूयाद् धनंजयम् । 'जो मुझे अर्जुनका पता बता देगा, उसे मैं चार सौ सवत्सा दुधारू गौएँ दूँगा, जिनके सींगोंमें सोने मढ़े होंगे ।।
sañjaya uvāca | dadyāṁ tasmai savatsānāṁ yo me brūyād dhanañjayam | na cet tad abhimanyeta puruṣo 'rjunadarśivān |
Sañjaya said: “I would give four hundred milch-cows, each with her calf, to the man who would tell me where Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) is. And if the man who has actually seen Arjuna should not consider that reward sufficient, then I would grant him still finer wealth—five hundred white horses, richly caparisoned with golden trappings and adorned with flawless gems.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how, in the pressure of war, leaders may resort to powerful material incentives to obtain crucial intelligence. It implicitly raises an ethical tension: wealth can be used to motivate action, but it can also tempt people to betray loyalties or distort truth, showing the moral fragility of information-gathering in conflict.
Sanjaya reports an offer of escalating rewards for information about Arjuna’s whereabouts: first, four hundred milch-cows with calves; if that is deemed insufficient by someone who has actually seen Arjuna, then an even greater reward of five hundred white horses adorned with gold and gems.