Shloka 213

Devanagari script

आजानेयैस्तथा यात॑ को नु स्वन्ततरो मया । “बड़े-बड़े राजाओंपर हुक्म चलाया, अत्यन्त दुर्लभ सम्मान प्राप्त किया तथा आजानेय (अरबी) घोड़ोंपर सवारी की, मुझसे अच्छा अन्त और किसका हुआ होगा?

Transliteration

ājāneyais tathā yātaḥ ko nu svantataro mayā |

Translation

Санджая сказал: «Я ездил на превосходных конях ājāneya и повелевал великими царями, стяжав почести, которых трудно добиться, — кто же, воистину, мог бы встретить конец лучше моего?»

Word by Word

आजानेयैःwith Ajāneya (well-bred) horses

तथाthus; also

यातःgone; ridden; traveled

कःwho?

नुindeed? (interrogative particle)

स्वन्ततरःhaving a better end; more fortunate in outcome

मयाthan me / by me (contextually: than I)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

ājāneya horses

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 highlights the moral tension between worldly achievement (power, prestige, luxury) and the true measure of a ‘good end.’ It implicitly questions whether external honors can justify self-satisfaction at life’s close, especially amid the ethical devastation of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya voices a reflective, self-justifying thought: he recalls having commanded great kings, received rare honors, and ridden excellent horses, and then asks rhetorically who could have had a better end than his—framing a moment of evaluation of one’s life by worldly standards.