Shloka 64
कर्णार्जुनसमागमः — The Karṇa–Arjuna Confrontation
Cosmic Spectatorship and Vows
जीवन प्राप्नोति पुरुष: संख्ये जयपराजयौ । मृतस्य तु हृषीकेश भड़ एव कुतो जय:,“मनुष्य जीवित रहे तो वह युद्धमें विजय और पराजय दोनों पाता है। हृषीकेश! मरे हुए मनुष्यका तो नाश ही हो जाता है; फिर उसकी विजय कहाँसे हो सकती है” इति श्रीमहा भारते कर्णपर्वणि धर्मराजशोधने चतु:षष्टितमो 5 ध्याय: इस प्रकार श्रीमह्माभारत कर्णपर्वमें युधिष्टिरकी खोजविषयक चौंसठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
sañjaya uvāca | jīvan prāpnoti puruṣaḥ saṅkhye jayaparājayau | mṛtasya tu hṛṣīkeśa bhaṅga eva kuto jayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “So long as a man lives, he may meet with both victory and defeat in battle. But for one who is dead, O Hṛṣīkeśa, there is only destruction—how could victory belong to him at all?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Victory and defeat are meaningful only for the living who can still act and bear consequences; death ends agency and outcomes, leaving only ruin. The verse underscores the ethical urgency of preserving life and recognizing the finality of death amid the pursuit of martial success.
Sañjaya reports a reflection addressed to Kṛṣṇa (Hṛṣīkeśa) in the context of the battlefield: he contrasts the living warrior, who may still experience changing fortunes, with the dead, for whom no ‘victory’ remains possible—only destruction.