Shloka 13
अध्याय ४ — दुर्योधनस्य असंधि-निश्चयः
Duryodhana’s Refusal of Reconciliation
तदत्र प्रतिवक्ष्यामि किंचिदेव हितं वच: । हते भीष्मे च द्रोणे च कर्णे चैव महारथे,येषु भारं समासाद्य राज्ये मतिमकुर्महि । ते संत्यज्य तनूर्याता: शूरा ब्रह्म॒ुविदां गतिम् “जिनपर युद्धका भार रखकर हम राज्य पानेकी आशा करते थे, वे शूरवीर तो शरीर छोड़कर ब्रह्म॒वेत्ताओंकी गतिको प्राप्त हो गये
tad atra prativakṣyāmi kiñcid eva hitaṃ vacaḥ | hate bhīṣme ca droṇe ca karṇe caiva mahārathe, yeṣu bhāraṃ samāsādya rājye matim akurmahi | te saṃtyajya tanūr yātāḥ śūrā brahmavidāṃ gatim ||
Sañjaya said: “Here I shall reply with a few words meant for your good. Bhīṣma has been slain, Droṇa has been slain, and Karṇa too—the great chariot-warrior. Those on whom we placed the burden of the war, fixing our minds on winning the kingdom through them—those heroes, abandoning their bodies, have gone to the destiny of the knowers of Brahman.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sañjaya urges a sobering ethical realism: worldly plans for power depend on fragile human supports. Even the greatest warriors fall, and the proper response is to recognize impermanence and the higher moral-spiritual horizon implied by ‘the destiny of Brahman-knowers,’ rather than clinging to political hope alone.
Sañjaya addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra, offering ‘beneficial words’ after catastrophic losses. He reports that the Kauravas’ chief pillars—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and Karṇa—have been slain; the very men on whom the war-effort and the hope of gaining the kingdom were placed are gone.