Shloka 8
कर्णपर्व — द्विचक्रिकी युद्धपरिस्थिति: धृष्टद्युम्न- द्रौणि-संघर्षः तथा अर्जुन-रक्षणम्
Chapter 42
राज्ञश्न धार्तराष्ट्रस्य कार्य सुमहदुद्यतम् । मयि तच्चाहितं शल्य तेन जीवसि मे क्षणम्,*राजा दुर्योधनका महान् कार्य उपस्थित हुआ है और उसका सारा भार मुझपर रखा गया है। शल्य! इसीलिये तुम क्षणभर भी जीवित हो
sañjaya uvāca |
rājñaś ca dhārtarāṣṭrasya kāryaṃ sumahad udyatam |
mayi tac cāhitaṃ śalya tena jīvasi me kṣaṇam ||
Sañjaya said: “A very great task of the Dhārtarāṣṭra king has now arisen and is set in motion. Its entire burden has been placed upon me. Therefore, O Śalya, you remain alive—if only for a moment—because of me.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how immense political-military responsibilities can be concentrated in a single agent, creating relationships of dependence and coercive leverage—where another’s survival is framed as contingent on one’s own role in a larger cause.
Sañjaya addresses Śalya, stating that a major undertaking for the Kaurava king (Dhārtarāṣṭra’s son, i.e., Duryodhana) has arisen and that its burden has been entrusted to Sañjaya; on that basis he asserts that Śalya remains alive, at least momentarily, because of him.