Shloka 40

Devanagari script

तमब्रवीन्महाराज पुत्रस्तव विशाम्पते,महाराज! प्रजानाथ! तब आपके पुत्रने उनसे कहा--'द्विजश्रेष्ठी] आपका कल्याण हो। यदि आप मेरा प्रिय करना चाहते हैं तो मेरी आज्ञासे द्रोणपुत्रका सेनापतिके पदपर अभिषेक कीजिये

Transliteration

tam abravīn mahārāja putras tava viśāmpate | mahārāja prajānātha tava putro 'bravīt—“dvijaśreṣṭha svasti te | yadi tvaṁ mama priyaṁ kartum icchasi tarhi mamājñayā droṇaputrasya senāpatipade 'bhiṣekaṁ kuru” ||

Translation

Sañjaya dijo: «Oh gran rey, oh señor del pueblo», tu hijo se dirigió a él y dijo: «Excelso entre los brahmanes, que el bienestar sea tuyo. Si deseas hacer lo que me es grato, entonces, por mi mandato, consagra al hijo de Droṇa al cargo de comandante del ejército».

Word by Word

तम्him

अब्रवीत्said/spoke

महाराजO great king

पुत्रःson

तवyour

विशाम्of the people/subjects

पतेO lord

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by addresses mahārāja/viśāmpate/prajānātha)

Duryodhana (implied as 'your son')

Droṇaputra (Aśvatthāman)

Senāpati (office of commander-in-chief)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in wartime, decisions about authority and leadership are often driven by personal loyalty and urgency rather than calm deliberation. It implicitly raises an ethical tension: the king’s duty to act for the realm versus the pressure to satisfy a son’s demand and escalate conflict through a hardline commander.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that the king’s son speaks to a leading Brahmin/elder and asks that Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāman) be formally installed as commander-in-chief of the army, indicating a strategic shift in Kaurava leadership during the Shalya Parva.