Shloka 40
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
पितामहेन वृद्धेन तथा55चार्येण धीमता । जयद्रथेन कर्णेन तथा दुःशासनेन च
pitāmahena vṛddhena tathācāryeṇa dhīmatā | jayadrathena karṇena tathā duḥśāsanena ca |
Sañjaya dijo: «Junto al anciano abuelo Bhīṣma, el sabio preceptor Droṇa, Jayadratha, Karṇa y Duḥśāsana, ¿ascenderemos también nosotros ahora por el mismo sendero por el que parten los héroes de los dioses, que jamás vuelven la espalda en la batalla?»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death in righteous combat as a culturally valorized ‘path’ for steadfast warriors—those who do not show their back in battle—while also conveying the moral weight and inevitability felt when great elders and champions have already fallen.
Sañjaya, reporting the war’s course, lists major Kaurava stalwarts (Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Jayadratha, Karṇa, Duḥśāsana) and voices the grim realization that the remaining warriors may soon follow them in death, on the same heroic path.