Shloka 7
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय २५: संजयदूतवाक्यम्
Sañjaya’s Envoy-Speech on Peace
नाश्रेयानीश्वरो विग्रहाणां नाश्रेयान् वै गीतशब्दं शृणोति । नाश्रेयान् वै सेवते माल्यगन्धान् न चाप्यश्रेयाननुलेपनानि
sañjaya uvāca | nāśreyān īśvaro vigrahāṇāṃ nāśreyān vai gītaśabdaṃ śṛṇoti | nāśreyān vai sevate mālyagandhān na cāpy aśreyān anulepanāni |
サンジャヤは言った。「功徳なき者は、争いの場で真の主とはなれぬ。自らの名を讃える歌声を聞くこともない。積み重ねた善がなければ、花鬘も香も味わえず、香油の塗布すら叶わぬ。かくして繁栄と名誉は過去の正しき行いの果として語られる。だが享楽への渇望は、智慧に制せられぬとき、内なる苦悩の源となる。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links honor, mastery, and refined enjoyments to accumulated merit (puṇya/śreyas), implying that ethical conduct and past righteousness underpin worldly prosperity; without such merit, pleasures and acclaim do not truly accrue.
Sañjaya is characterizing the conditions for royal success and enjoyment, using a series of negations to stress that lack of merit leads to lack of victory, praise, and luxuries—framing the broader political crisis in terms of moral causality.