Shloka 20
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
आचार्य पुत्र शस्त्रेण जहि मां मा चिरं कृथा: । त्वत्कृते सुकृताललोकान् गच्छेयं द्विपदां वर
ācārya-putra śastreṇa jahi māṁ mā ciraṁ kṛthāḥ | tvat-kṛte sukṛtāl lokān gaccheyaṁ dvipadāṁ vara ||
Sañjaya dit : Le tenant serré de ses ongles, il parla d’une voix brisée : « Ô fils du précepteur, le meilleur des hommes—ne tarde pas. Tue-moi d’une arme quelconque, afin que, par toi, je gagne les mondes acquis par le mérite. »
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension of seeking a ‘good death’ and posthumous merit even amid brutality: the speaker urges being slain by a proper weapon (śastra), implying a belief that the manner and agency of death can shape one’s afterlife, while also exposing how war distorts moral judgment—turning killing into a means of ‘benefit’ for the slain.
In the night-raid context of the Sauptika Parva, a wounded or captured person clutches Droṇa’s son and, speaking indistinctly, begs him not to delay but to kill him with a weapon, so that he may attain meritorious realms ‘through’ Aśvatthāman’s act.