Shloka 7
Śalya Appointed as Karṇa’s Sārathi; Discourse on Praise, Blame, and Beneficial Counsel (कर्णस्य शल्यसारथ्यं तथा स्तवनिन्दाविचारः)
यादृशं दृश्यते रूपमन्तकप्रतिमं भूशम् । गमिष्यत्यद्य पदवीं भारद्वाजस्य गौतम:,“इनका यमराजके समान जैसा अत्यन्त भयंकर रूप दिखायी देता है, उससे जान पड़ता है, आज कृपाचार्य भी द्रोणाचार्यके पथपर ही चलेंगे
sañjaya uvāca |
yādṛśaṁ dṛśyate rūpam antaka-pratimaṁ bhīṣam |
gamiṣyaty adya padavīṁ bhāradvājasya gautamaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “From the way his form appears—terrifying, like Antaka (Death) himself—it seems that today Gautama (Kṛpācārya) will follow the very path of Bhāradvāja’s son (Droṇa), moving toward the same fated end. The battlefield’s signs reveal how even the venerable are drawn into the inexorable consequences of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral gravity and inevitability of consequences in war: even revered elders and teachers, once committed to the battlefield’s course, may be carried toward death. It invites reflection on dharma under conflict—how duty, loyalty, and circumstance can lead to tragic ends.
Sañjaya describes a fearsome, death-like appearance seen on the battlefield and infers from this ominous sign that Kṛpācārya (Gautama) is likely to follow the same course as Droṇa (Bhāradvāja’s son)—i.e., toward a similar fate amid the ongoing carnage.