Shloka 34
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
कृपणं विलपन्नार्तो जरयाभिपरिप्लुत: । ग्रियते रुदतां मध्ये ज्ञातीनां न स पूरुष:
sañjaya uvāca | kṛpaṇaṃ vilapann ārto jarayābhipariplutaḥ | grīyate rudatāṃ madhye jñātīnāṃ na sa pūruṣaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Seorang yang tubuhnya diruntuhkan usia tua, diseksa penyakit, meratap dengan hina, lalu mati di tengah kaum kerabat yang duduk mengelilinginya sambil menangis—mengeluh tanpa daya ketika melepaskan nyawa—orang demikian tidak layak disebut “lelaki”.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts dignified endurance with helpless, self-pitying collapse: being overcome by age and suffering is natural, but surrendering to despair and dying in pitiable lamentation is portrayed as lacking the steadiness and courage expected of a ‘pūruṣa’ (a person of true manly worth).
Sañjaya offers a reflective, moralizing observation about a pitiable kind of death—one that occurs amid grieving relatives—using it to comment on character and the ideal of facing decline and death with firmness rather than plaintive helplessness.