Shloka 30
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शल्यपर्वके अन्तर्गत गदापव॑रमें तीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,नेदानीं जीविते बुद्धि: कार्या धर्मचिकीर्षया । क्षत्रधर्ममुपाश्रित्य त्वद्विधेन सुयोधन “अतः तुम अपना भय दूर करके उठो और युद्ध करो। सुयोधन! भाइयों तथा सम्पूर्ण सेनाको मरवाकर क्षत्रियधर्मका आश्रय लिये हुए तुम्हारे-जैसे पुरुषको धर्मसम्पादनकी इच्छासे इस समय केवल अपनी जान बचानेका विचार नहीं करना चाहिये
nedānīṁ jīvite buddhiḥ kāryā dharmacikīrṣayā | kṣatradharmam upāśritya tvadvidhena suyodhana ||
ataḥ tvaṁ bhayam apāsya uttiṣṭha yuddhāya | suyodhana! bhrātṝn sarvām ca senām mārayan kṣatriyadharmam āśritya sthitas tvadvidho janaḥ dharmasampādanecchayā asmin kāle kevalaṁ prāṇarakṣaṇabuddhiṁ na kartum arhati ||
Sañjaya said: “Now is not the time to set your mind merely on preserving life, when your aim is to accomplish what you take to be dharma. Taking refuge in the warrior’s code, O Suyodhana—one such as you, who has already caused brothers and the whole army to be slain while standing upon kṣatriya-duty—should not, at this moment, think only of saving his own life. Therefore cast off fear, rise up, and fight.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage urges steadfastness in one’s chosen duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and rejects self-preservation as the sole motive when one has already committed to a course of action framed as ‘dharma’; fear must be set aside in favor of responsibility and consistency with one’s role.
Sañjaya addresses Suyodhana (Duryodhana) at a critical moment late in the war, pressing him to abandon fear and continue fighting, arguing that after the immense bloodshed already caused, it is unfitting for him to focus only on saving his own life.