Shloka 27

शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command

Devanagari script

इष्टं मे बहुभिर्यज्ञैर्दत्ता विप्रेषु दक्षिणा:

Transliteration

iṣṭaṃ me bahubhir yajñair dattā vipreṣu dakṣiṇāḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “I have performed many sacrifices as prescribed, and I have given the due sacrificial fees (dakṣiṇās) to the Brahmins.”

Word by Word

• इष्टम्: desired / approved / dear
• इष्टम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इष्ट (यज्-धातोः क्त)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• मे: of me / my
• मे: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• बहुभिः: by many
• बहुभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• यज्ञैः: by sacrifices
• यज्ञैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• दत्ता: given
• दत्ता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दत्त (दा-धातोः क्त)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• विप्रेषु: to/among the Brahmins
• विप्रेषु: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• दक्षिणा: sacrificial fee / gift
• दक्षिणा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दक्षिणा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Brahmins (vipra)
• dakṣiṇā (sacrificial fee/gift)
• yajña (sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds dharmic conduct through yajña (rightly performed ritual action) and dakṣiṇā (proper remuneration/gifts to officiants). It implies that religious acts are incomplete without ethical completion—honoring those who sustain the rite and fulfilling one’s obligations with generosity and correctness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within the Shalya Parva’s war-time frame, Sañjaya reports a statement emphasizing past meritorious conduct: many sacrifices were performed and the prescribed dakṣiṇās were given to Brahmins. The line functions as a credentialing claim of dharmic life even amid the catastrophic setting of the Kurukṣetra war.