Shloka 18
तौ हि संजय दुःखार्तो विज्ञाप्यौ वचनाद्धि मे । इष्टं भृत्या भृता: सम्यग् भू: प्रशास्ता ससागरा
tau hi sañjaya duḥkhārto vijñāpyau vacanād dhi me | iṣṭaṃ bhṛtyā bhṛtāḥ samyag bhūḥ praśāstā sasāgarā ||
Sanjaya berkata: “Wahai Sanjaya, kedua orang tuaku pasti akan dilanda duka ketika mendengar kabar kematianku. Maka, atas permintaanku, sampaikan kepada mereka: bahwa aku telah melakukan kurban-kurban suci sesuai tuntunan, memelihara para tanggunganku dengan semestinya, dan memerintah bumi dengan baik hingga lautan yang mengelilinginya.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid the certainty of death in war, one’s moral accounting is framed through dharma: performing prescribed rites, protecting dependents, and ruling justly. The verse presents ethical kingship and responsibility to others as the measure of a life’s worth.
The speaker anticipates that his parents will be devastated upon hearing of his death and instructs Sanjaya to deliver a consoling report: that he fulfilled sacrificial duties, cared for those under his protection, and governed the realm properly to its farthest limits.