Shloka 266

Devanagari script

दिष्टया न विमतिं कांचिद्‌ भजित्वा तु पराजित: । /हर्षकी बात है कि मैं युद्धमें पीठ दिखाकर भागा नहीं। निम्नश्रेणीके मनुष्यकी भाँति हार मानकर वैरसे कभी पीछे नहीं हटा तथा कभी किसी दुर्विचारका आश्रय लेकर पराजित नहीं हुआ--यह भी मेरे लिये गौरवकी ही बात है

Transliteration

diṣṭyā na vimatiṁ kāñcid bhajitvā tu parājitaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Suatu berkatlah bahawa, meskipun aku ditewaskan, aku tidak berpaut pada sebarang tekad yang sesat. Bahkan dalam kekalahan, aku tidak berlindung pada penyerahan diri yang hina atau pada fikiran yang bengkok dan tercela—ini juga suatu kehormatan.”

Word by Word

दिष्ट्याfortunately; by good luck

नnot

विमतिम्wrong notion; perverse thought; doubt

काञ्चित्any (one)

भजित्वाhaving resorted to; having adopted

तुbut; indeed

पराजितःdefeated

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

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 praises moral steadiness under failure: even when defeated, one should not adopt ignoble surrender or wrong counsel (vimati). Honor lies in refusing unethical or self-degrading responses to loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reflects on a situation of defeat and emphasizes that, despite being overcome, he did not turn to misguided thinking or dishonorable conduct—framing this restraint as a fortunate and praiseworthy outcome.