Shloka 40
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
पितामहेन वृद्धेन तथा55चार्येण धीमता । जयद्रथेन कर्णेन तथा दुःशासनेन च
pitāmahena vṛddhena tathācāryeṇa dhīmatā | jayadrathena karṇena tathā duḥśāsanena ca |
Sañjaya berkata: “Bersama datuk tua Bhīṣma, guru bijaksana Droṇa, Jayadratha, Karṇa, dan Duḥśāsana—adakah kita juga kini akan menaiki jalan yang sama yang dilalui para wira para dewa, yang tidak pernah berpaling dalam peperangan?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death in righteous combat as a culturally valorized ‘path’ for steadfast warriors—those who do not show their back in battle—while also conveying the moral weight and inevitability felt when great elders and champions have already fallen.
Sañjaya, reporting the war’s course, lists major Kaurava stalwarts (Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Jayadratha, Karṇa, Duḥśāsana) and voices the grim realization that the remaining warriors may soon follow them in death, on the same heroic path.