Shloka 23
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
इत्येवं गुरुभि: पूर्वमुपदिष्टं नृणां सदा । सो>हमुत्क्रम्य पन्थानं शास्त्रदिष्टं सनातनम्
ity evaṃ gurubhiḥ pūrvam upadiṣṭaṃ nṛṇāṃ sadā | so 'ham utkramya panthānaṃ śāstradiṣṭaṃ sanātanam ||
Sañjaya said: “Thus, from of old, this has always been taught to men by their teachers. Yet I have overstepped that path—the eternal course prescribed by the śāstras.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the perennial, scripture-guided path taught by elders with the speaker’s admission of having deviated from it—highlighting accountability, the authority of śāstra, and the ethical weight of transgression.
Sañjaya, narrating events, frames a confession-like reflection: what was traditionally taught by gurus as the proper, eternal course has been violated by “I,” signaling a moral breach in the unfolding aftermath of war.