Shloka 473

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 94: Sātyaki–Sudarśana Yuddha (सात्यकि–सुदर्शन युद्ध)

Devanagari script

सर्वेणावश्यमर्तव्यं जातेन सरितां वरे । 'सरिताओंमें श्रेष्ठ पर्णाशे! मनुष्य किसी प्रकार भी अमर नहीं हो सकता। जिन लोगोंने यहाँ जन्म लिया है, उनकी मृत्यु अवश्यम्भावी है

Transliteration

sarveṇāvaśyam artavyaṃ jātena saritāṃ vare |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O best of rivers, one who is born must inevitably die; in this world no human being can become immortal by any means. For all who have taken birth here, death is certain.”

Word by Word

सर्वेणby all means; necessarily

अवश्यम्certainly, inevitably

मर्तव्यम्must be died; death is inevitable

जातेनby one who is born; for the born

सरिताम्of rivers

वरेO best (one)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

a river addressed as ‘best of rivers’ (saritāṃ vara)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts the universality and inevitability of death: birth necessarily culminates in death, and no human can secure immortality through worldly means. Ethically, it functions as a sobering reminder meant to temper attachment, pride, and despair amid the devastations of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, introduces a reflective statement on the certainty of death. In the war context of Droṇa Parva, such lines typically frame or accompany reports of heavy losses, offering a philosophical lens through which the unfolding slaughter is to be understood.