Shloka 9
कर्णवधोत्तरं शल्य-दुर्योधनसंवादः
Aftermath of Karṇa’s Fall: Śalya’s Address to Duryodhana
त्रयोदशेमा हि समा: सदा वयं त्वामन्वजीविष्म धनंजयाशया । काले वर्ष देवमिवोप्तबीजं तन्न: सर्वान् नरके त्वं न््यमज्ज:
trayodaśemā hi samāḥ sadā vayaṃ tvām anvajīviṣma dhanañjayāśayā | kāle varṣa devam ivoptabījaṃ tan naḥ sarvān narake tvaṃ nyamajjaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “For these thirteen years we have sustained our lives only by placing our hope in you, O Dhanañjaya. Just as a sown seed endures, waiting for the timely rain-cloud, so did we endure; yet you have plunged all of us into hell—into grievous peril and despair.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of leadership and reliance: when many endure hardship sustained by hope in a protector, failure or delay can feel like being cast into ‘hell’—a metaphor for collective ruin. It underscores accountability to those who depend on one’s promised support.
Sañjaya voices a bitter complaint to Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), saying that for thirteen years ‘we’ survived by hoping in him, like a seed waiting for timely rain; but now, through his action or inaction, all have been driven into extreme distress.