Shloka 43
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
तैः स्वयं रचितो मार्गों दुर्गमो हि पुनर्भवेत् सम्पतद्धिमहावेगैर्यास्यद्धिरिह सद्गतिम्
taiḥ svayaṃ racito mārgo durgamo hi punar bhavet | sampatadbhir mahāvegair yāsyadbhir iha sadgatiṃ ||
«Le chemin que ces héros ont eux-mêmes frayé peut redevenir difficile à parcourir—encombré et rude—tant est grande la multitude des guerriers qui s’y élancent avec une force impétueuse vers la “bonne voie”, la destinée noble acquise par la mort héroïque.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames heroic death in battle as a ‘path’ leading to sadgati (a noble destiny), while also hinting at the sheer scale of slaughter: so many warriors pursue that end that the very path becomes metaphorically congested and difficult—an ethical reflection on the mass momentum of war.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, comments that the route to a noble end—created by the valor of earlier heroes—will be made ‘hard to traverse’ again because countless warriors are now rushing toward that same fate amid the ongoing carnage.