Shalya Parva Adhyaya 64 Shloka 223 - Mahabharata | French | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 223

Devanagari script

प्रियेभ्य: प्रकृतं साधु को नु स्वन्ततरो मया । “दूसरे राष्ट्रोपर आक्रमण किया और कितने ही राजाओंसे दासकी भाँति सेवाएँ लीं। जो अपने प्रिय व्यक्ति थे

Transliteration

priyebhyaḥ prakṛtaṃ sādhu ko nu svantataro mayā |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «J’ai agi avec droiture envers ceux qui m’étaient chers ; qui donc, en vérité, aurait pu connaître une fin meilleure que la mienne ? Ayant attaqué d’autres royaumes et contraint bien des rois à servir comme des esclaves, j’ai pourtant assuré le bien de mes bien-aimés — quelle fin pourrait être tenue pour supérieure à la mienne ?»

Word by Word

प्रियेभ्यःto/for the dear ones

प्रकृतम्proper, fitting (act/thing)

साधुwell; rightly; indeed

कःwho

नुindeed; pray (interrogative particle)

स्वन्ततरोhaving a better end; more fortunate in outcome

मयाthan/by me

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights moral self-assessment at the end of life: a person may justify harsh political actions (conquest and subjugation) by appealing to loyalty and beneficence toward one’s own loved ones, raising the ethical tension between private virtue and public wrongdoing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a speaker’s reflective claim about his life and end: despite having waged aggressive campaigns and forced other rulers into servitude, he asserts that he consistently did good to his own dear ones and therefore considers his end unsurpassed.