Shloka 223

Devanagari script

प्रियेभ्य: प्रकृतं साधु को नु स्वन्ततरो मया । “दूसरे राष्ट्रोपर आक्रमण किया और कितने ही राजाओंसे दासकी भाँति सेवाएँ लीं। जो अपने प्रिय व्यक्ति थे, उनकी सदा ही भलाई की। फिर मुझसे अच्छा अन्त किसका हुआ होगा?

Transliteration

priyebhyaḥ prakṛtaṃ sādhu ko nu svantataro mayā |

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു— “മറ്റു രാജ്യങ്ങളെ ആക്രമിച്ചു, അനേകം രാജാക്കന്മാരെ ദാസന്മാരെപ്പോലെ സേവിപ്പിച്ചു; എങ്കിലും എന്റെ പ്രിയജനങ്ങളുടെ ക്ഷേമം എപ്പോഴും ഉറപ്പാക്കി—അപ്പോൾ എന്നേക്കാൾ ശ്രേഷ്ഠമായ അന്ത്യം മറ്റാർക്കുണ്ടാകും?”

Word by Word

प्रियेभ्यःto/for the dear ones

प्रकृतम्proper, fitting (act/thing)

साधुwell; rightly; indeed

कःwho

नुindeed; pray (interrogative particle)

स्वन्ततरोhaving a better end; more fortunate in outcome

मयाthan/by me

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights moral self-assessment at the end of life: a person may justify harsh political actions (conquest and subjugation) by appealing to loyalty and beneficence toward one’s own loved ones, raising the ethical tension between private virtue and public wrongdoing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a speaker’s reflective claim about his life and end: despite having waged aggressive campaigns and forced other rulers into servitude, he asserts that he consistently did good to his own dear ones and therefore considers his end unsurpassed.