Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, 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 |
ਸੰਜਯ ਬੋਲਿਆ—ਬੁੱਢੇ ਪਿਤਾਮਹ ਭੀਸ਼ਮ, ਬੁੱਧੀਮਾਨ ਆਚਾਰਯ ਦ੍ਰੋਣ, ਜਯਦ੍ਰਥ, ਕਰਨ ਅਤੇ ਦੁಃਸ਼ਾਸਨ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ—ਕੀ ਅਸੀਂ ਵੀ ਹੁਣ ਉਸੇ ਰਾਹ ਉੱਤੇ ਚੜ੍ਹੀਏ ਜਿਸ ਰਾਹੀਂ ਦੇਵਾਂ ਦੇ ਉਹ ਸੂਰਮੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ ਜੋ ਜੰਗ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਦੇ ਪਿੱਠ ਨਹੀਂ ਦਿਖਾਉਂਦੇ?
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.
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