Shloka 23

Devanagari script

इत्येवं गुरुभि: पूर्वमुपदिष्टं नृणां सदा । सो>हमुत्क्रम्य पन्थानं शास्त्रदिष्टं सनातनम्‌

Transliteration

ity evaṃ gurubhiḥ pūrvam upadiṣṭaṃ nṛṇāṃ sadā | so 'ham utkramya panthānaṃ śāstradiṣṭaṃ sanātanam ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「このように、師たちは古より常に人々に教えてきた。だが私は、その道――シャーストラ（śāstra）の示す永遠の道程――を踏み越えてしまった。」

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• एवम्: in this manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• गुरुभिः: by the teachers/elders
• गुरुभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरु
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• पूर्वम्: formerly, earlier
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्व

• उपदिष्टम्: taught, instructed
• Type: Verb
• Root: उपदिश्
• Form: kta (past passive participle), Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• नृणाम्: of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• सदा: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

• सः: he (that)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: Nominative, Singular

• उत्क्रम्य: having transgressed/overstepped
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत्क्रम्
• Form: ktvā (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• पन्थानम्: the path
• पन्थानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पथिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शास्त्रदिष्टम्: prescribed by scripture
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शास्त्रदिष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सनातनम्: eternal, ancient
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सनातन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• gurus (teachers/preceptors)
• śāstra (scriptural authority)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts the perennial, scripture-guided path taught by elders with the speaker’s admission of having deviated from it—highlighting accountability, the authority of śāstra, and the ethical weight of transgression.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events, frames a confession-like reflection: what was traditionally taught by gurus as the proper, eternal course has been violated by “I,” signaling a moral breach in the unfolding aftermath of war.