Shloka 41

Devanagari script

यस्यार्थे शस्त्रमादाय यमपेक्ष्य च जीवसि । स चाद्य पतित: शेते पृष्ठे नावेदितस्तव

Transliteration

yasyārthe śastram ādāya yam apekṣya ca jīvasi | sa cādya patitaḥ śete pṛṣṭhe nāveditas tava ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「誰がために汝は武器を取り、誰がために死そのものをも見据えて生き永らえてきたのか——その者は今日ついに倒れ、仰向けに横たわっている。しかるに汝にはまだ知らされていないのだ。」

Word by Word

यस्यof whom/whose

अर्थेfor the sake (in the matter) of

शस्त्रम्weapon

आदायhaving taken (up)

यम्whom

अपेक्ष्यdepending on / looking to

चand

जीवसिyou live

सःhe

चand

अद्यtoday/now

पतितःfallen

शेतेlies

पृष्ठेon (his) back

नnot

अवेदितःunknown / unrecognized

तवto you / of you

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Yama (Death)

śastra (weapons)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the fragility of martial and worldly reliance: even the person for whose sake one bears arms and endures life in the shadow of death can suddenly fall. It highlights the ethical shock of war—attachments and loyalties are overturned by mortality, demanding sober awareness rather than complacent dependence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya delivers a stark report to his listener: the very person for whom the addressee has taken up weapons and persisted through peril is now slain and lying on his back, yet the addressee has not even been told. The line functions as a dramatic announcement of a crucial fall on the battlefield.