Shloka 12
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
कथं राज्ञ: पिता भूत्वा स्वयं राजा च संजय । प्रेष्यभूत: प्रवर्तेयं पाण्डवेयस्थ शासनात्,संजय! मैं राजाका पिता और स्वयं भी राजा ही था। अब पाण्डुपुत्र युधिष्ठिरकी आज्ञाके अधीन हो दासकी भाँति कैसे जीवननिर्वाह करूँगा?
kathaṁ rājñaḥ pitā bhūtvā svayaṁ rājā ca sañjaya | preṣyabhūtaḥ pravarteyaṁ pāṇḍaveyastha śāsanāt ||
ಸಂಜಯಾ! ನಾನು ರಾಜನ ತಂದೆಯೂ, ನಾನೇ ರಾಜನೂ ಆಗಿದ್ದೆ; ಈಗ ಪಾಂಡವಪುತ್ರ ಯುಧಿಷ್ಠಿರನ ಆಜ್ಞೆಗೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿ ಸೇವಕನಂತೆ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಸಾಗಿಸಲಿ?
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological struggle that follows political reversal: accepting rightful authority (the Pāṇḍavas’ rule after the war) is a dharmic necessity, yet personal pride and memories of former sovereignty make obedience feel like servitude. It frames the ethical work of reconciliation after conflict—submitting to the new order without inner resentment.
In the opening of the Sauptika Parva, Sañjaya reports a lament-like reflection: someone who once stood as a king and even as a king’s father now faces life under the command of a Pāṇḍava (implicitly Yudhiṣṭhira). The line expresses the humiliation and anxiety of the defeated side in the immediate aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war.