Shloka 54
यूयं निहतसंकल्पा: शोचन्तो वर्तयिष्यथ । अच्युत! मैं सुहदों और सेवकोंसहित स्वर्गलोकमें जाऊँगा और तुमलोग भग्नमनोरथ होकर शोचनीय जीवन बिताते रहोगे || ५३ ह ।। (न मे विषादो भीमेन पादेन शिर आहतम् | काका वा कड्कगृध्रा वा निधास्यन्ति पद क्षणात् ।।) भीमसेनने अपने पैरसे जो मेरे सिरपर आघात किया है, इसके लिये मुझे कोई खेद नहीं है; क्योंकि अभी क्षणभरके बाद कौए, कंक अथवा गृध्र भी तो इस शरीरपर अपना पैर रखेंगे। संजय उवाच अस्य वाक्यस्य निधने कुरुराजस्यथ धीमत:
yūyaṁ nihata-saṅkalpāḥ śocanto vartayiṣyatha | acyuta! mayā suhṛdbhiḥ sevakaiś ca sārdhaṁ svargalokaṁ gamiṣyāmi, yūyaṁ tu bhagna-manorathāḥ śocanīyaṁ jīvitaṁ vartayiṣyatha || (na me viṣādo bhīmena pādena śira āhatam | kākā vā kaṅka-gṛdhrā vā nidhāsyanti padaṁ kṣaṇāt ||) sañjaya uvāca: asya vākyasya nidhane kuru-rājasya atha dhīmataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “You will live on, your resolve broken, passing your days in grief. O Acyuta, I shall go to the world of heaven together with my friends and attendants, while you, your hopes shattered, will continue a pitiable life.” (He adds:) “I feel no sorrow that Bhīma struck my head with his foot; for in a moment crows, kites, and vultures will set their feet upon this body as well.” Sañjaya continues: When these words of the wise king of the Kurus came to an end…
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores impermanence and the harsh moral psychology of war: humiliation and bodily injury are fleeting compared to death itself, and victory/defeat quickly turns into grief. It also reflects a kṣatriya-style insistence on facing death without lament, even while speaking bitterly to the victors.
In the aftermath of the mace-fight, the fallen Kuru king speaks defiantly: he predicts the Pāṇḍavas will live on in sorrow with broken aims, while he will attain heaven with his companions. He dismisses the shame of Bhīma’s foot-strike, noting that scavenger birds will soon tread on his corpse anyway. Sañjaya then resumes narration as the speech ends.