Shloka 55
सत्यं ते प्रतिजानामि हतं विद्ध्यद्य सूतजम् । यस्येच्छसि वधं तस्य गतमप्यस्य जीवितम्
satyaṁ te pratijānāmi hataṁ viddhy adya sūtajam | yasyecchasi vadhaṁ tasya gatam apy asya jīvitam ||
Sañjaya said: “I swear to you in truth—know that the charioteer’s son has been slain today. The one whose death you desire—his life too has already departed.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) and the moral weight of a solemn assurance: Sañjaya commits to truthful reporting even amid war’s chaos, underscoring that dharma includes fidelity to truth and responsibility in speech.
Sañjaya announces to his listener that the ‘sūtaja’ (Karṇa) has been killed that day, stating that the very person whose death is desired has already lost his life—marking a decisive turn in the war’s fortunes and intensifying the emotional and ethical stakes.