संजय उवाच शृणु राजन प्रवक्ष्यामि यथावृत्तं नराधिप । राज्ञा यदुक्त भग्नेन तस्मिन् व्यसन आगते
sañjaya uvāca śṛṇu rājan pravakṣyāmi yathāvṛttaṃ narādhipa | rājñā yad uktaṃ bhagnena tasmin vyasana āgate ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Dengarlah, wahai Raja, wahai penguasa manusia; akan kuceritakan tepat sebagaimana terjadinya—apa yang diucapkan raja itu ketika ia telah remuk dan malapetaka menimpanya.”
संजय उवाच
The verse highlights truthful reporting (yathāvṛttam) and the ethical need to evaluate speech arising from defeat and calamity; it suggests that words spoken in distress reveal character and the consequences of adharma in war.
Sañjaya addresses the king and prepares to recount, exactly as it happened, what a certain king said when overwhelmed—defeated and struck by misfortune—setting up the next lines as a report of that speech.