Shloka 30

Devanagari script

स्तन्यस्य मातुर्मधुसर्पिषोर्वा माध्वीकपानस्य च सत्कृतस्य । दिव्यस्य वा तोयरसस्य पानात्‌ पयोदधिभ्यां मथिताच्च मुख्यात्‌,“मैंने माताके दूधका, मधु और घीका, अच्छी तरह तैयार किये हुए मधूक-पुष्पनिर्मित पेय पदार्थका, दिव्य जलके रसका, दूध और दहीसे बिलोये हुए ताजे माखनका भी पान या रसास्वादन किया है; इन सबसे तथा इनके अतिरिक्त भी संसारमें जो अमृतके समान स्वादिष्ट पीनेयोग्य पदार्थ हैं, उन सबसे भी मेरे इस शत्रुके रक्तका स्वाद अधिक है

Transliteration

stanyasya mātur madhu-sarpiṣor vā mādhvīka-pānasya ca satkṛtasya | divyasya vā toya-rasasya pānāt payo-dadhibhyāṁ mathitāc ca mukhyāt |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Aku pernah mengecap susu ibuku; aku pernah meminum madu dan ghee; aku pernah menikmati mādhvīka—minuman daripada bunga madhūka yang disediakan dengan sempurna; aku pernah meneguk sari air samawi; dan aku pernah merasai mentega segar yang paling utama, dikisar daripada susu dan dadih. Namun, lebih lazat daripada semuanya—bahkan daripada segala minuman yang dipuji seperti amerta di dunia—ialah rasa darah musuhku.”

Word by Word

स्तन्यस्यof milk (breast-milk)

मातुःof (my) mother

मधुof honey

सर्पिषोःof ghee

वाor

माध्वीकof madhvīka (honey/flower-based liquor)

पानस्यof drink/drinking

चand

सत्कृतस्यof well-prepared / well-treated

दिव्यस्यof divine

वाor

तोयof water

रसस्यof juice/essence

पानात्from drinking

पयःfrom milk

दधिभ्याम्with milk-curd (and/or) curd (dual: milk and curd)

मथितात्from (that which is) churned

चand

मुख्यात्from the best / chief (thing)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mother (mātā)

milk (stanya/payaḥ)

honey (madhu)

ghee (sarpiṣ)

mādhvīka drink

celestial water-essence (divya toya-rasa)

curd (dadhi)

fresh butter (navanīta implied by mathita)

enemy’s blood (śatru-rakta implied)

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 uses extreme taste-imagery to show how war can invert values: what is naturally pure and nourishing (milk, honey, ghee) is rhetorically surpassed by the ‘taste’ of an enemy’s blood. It warns, by depiction, how vengeance and battlefield fury can eclipse ordinary ethical sensibilities.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warrior’s fierce boast in the midst of the Kurukṣetra conflict: after listing the finest drinks known in human and even divine experience, the speaker declares that the blood of his enemy is more gratifying than all of them—highlighting the brutality and psychological intensity of the battle.