Shloka 32
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
गृहे यत् क्षत्रियस्यापि निधन तद् विगर्हितम् । अधर्म: सुमहानेष यच्छय्यामरणं गृहे
gṛhe yat kṣatriyasyāpi nidhanaṁ tad vigarhitam | adharmaḥ sumahān eṣa yacchayyāmaraṇaṁ gṛhe ||
Sañjaya dit : Même pour un kṣatriya, mourir chez soi est tenu pour blâmable. Mourir dans sa maison — étendu sur un lit — passe pour une très grande transgression du dharma d’un guerrier ; car sa voie prescrite est d’affronter le péril et la mort sur le champ du devoir, non dans l’aisance à l’abri.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts kṣatriya-dharma: a warrior’s honorable end is tied to active duty and courage. Dying comfortably at home—symbolized by ‘death on a bed’—is portrayed as a serious lapse from the warrior’s ethical vocation.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, comments on the standards of warrior conduct. He frames death-at-home for a kṣatriya as censurable, reinforcing the epic’s battlefield code of honor and duty.