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 dit : « Avec le vieux aïeul Bhīṣma, le sage précepteur Droṇa, Jayadratha, Karṇa et Duḥśāsana, monterons-nous, nous aussi, dès maintenant, sur le chemin même par lequel s’en vont les héros des dieux, ceux qui ne tournent jamais le dos au combat ? »
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.