Shloka 5
Droṇanidhana-anantaraṃ sainya-viṣādaḥ and Karṇa-pravṛttiḥ
After Droṇa’s fall: army despondency and Karṇa’s advance
संजयोऊ5हं क्षितिपते कच्चिदास्ते सुखं भवान् | स्वदोषैरापदं प्राप्य कच्चिन्नाद्य विमुह्मुति,'पृथ्वीनाथ! मैं संजय हूँ। आप सुखसे तो हैं न? अपने ही अपराधोंसे विपत्तिमें पड़कर आज आप मोहित तो नहीं हो रहे हैं?
sañjaya uvāca — ahaṃ kṣitipate kaccid āste sukhaṃ bhavān | svadoṣair āpadaṃ prāpya kaccin nādya vimuhyasi ||
Sañjaya said: “O king of the earth, are you seated in ease—are you well? Having fallen into calamity through your own faults, are you not, even today, sinking into delusion?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral accountability: suffering that arises from one’s own wrongdoing should lead to clarity and self-correction, not further moha (delusion). It also reflects the ethical duty of a counselor/messenger to speak frankly to a ruler about responsibility.
Sañjaya addresses the king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) with a formal inquiry about his well-being, then pointedly reminds him that the present crisis has been brought about by his own side’s faults, asking whether he is still confused despite the consequences.