Shloka 223
प्रियेभ्य: प्रकृतं साधु को नु स्वन्ततरो मया । “दूसरे राष्ट्रोपर आक्रमण किया और कितने ही राजाओंसे दासकी भाँति सेवाएँ लीं। जो अपने प्रिय व्यक्ति थे
priyebhyaḥ prakṛtaṃ sādhu ko nu svantataro mayā |
Dijo Sañjaya: «He obrado bien con quienes me eran queridos; ¿quién, en verdad, podría haber hallado un fin mejor que el mío? Tras atacar otros reinos y obligar a muchos reyes a servir como esclavos, aun así aseguré el bienestar de mis amados; ¿qué fin podría considerarse superior al mío?»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral self-assessment at the end of life: a person may justify harsh political actions (conquest and subjugation) by appealing to loyalty and beneficence toward one’s own loved ones, raising the ethical tension between private virtue and public wrongdoing.
Sañjaya reports a speaker’s reflective claim about his life and end: despite having waged aggressive campaigns and forced other rulers into servitude, he asserts that he consistently did good to his own dear ones and therefore considers his end unsurpassed.