Shloka 8
कर्णवधोत्तरं शल्य-दुर्योधनसंवादः
Aftermath of Karṇa’s Fall: Śalya’s Address to Duryodhana
प्रच्छादितं बडिशमिवामिषेण संछादितं गरलमिवाशनेन । अनर्थकं मे दर्शितवानसि त्वं राज्यार्थिनो राज्यरूपं विनाशम्
sañjaya uvāca |
pracchāditaṁ baḍiśam ivāmiṣeṇa saṁchāditaṁ garalam ivāśanena |
anarthakaṁ me darśitavān asi tvaṁ rājyārthino rājyarūpaṁ vināśam ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Como un anzuelo oculto por el cebo, como veneno cubierto por la comida, tú me has mostrado—a mí, que anhelaba un reino—que lo que parece “poder real” es en verdad una ruina funesta, un desastre inútil y sin propósito».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that the pursuit of kingship can be deceptively attractive yet intrinsically destructive: power may look like benefit, but when driven by craving it becomes a concealed hook or hidden poison—bringing ruin rather than true good.
Sañjaya reports a lament-like reflection using two vivid similes (baited hook and food-covered poison) to describe how the hoped-for ‘kingdom’ has revealed itself as disaster for the one who sought it, underscoring the tragic cost of the war and ambition.