Shloka 21

Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)

Devanagari script

अर्थश्षात्यर्थलुब्धस्य कामश्नातिप्रसज्धिण:

Transliteration

arthaśātyārthalubdhasya kāmaś cātiprasajyate

Translation

अर्थशास्त्यर्थलुब्धस्य कामश्चातिप्रसज्जति ।

Word by Word

• अर्थशास्त्रार्थलुब्धस्य: of one greedy for the object/meaning of artha-śāstra (political/economic treatise)
• अर्थशास्त्रार्थलुब्धस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अर्थशास्त्रार्थलुब्ध
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• कामः: desire
• कामः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अतिप्रसज्यते: becomes excessively attached / clings too much
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र√सञ्ज्
• Form: Present, 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Greed for wealth intensifies desire, causing it to cling and overextend; such unchecked craving undermines self-control and dharmic judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya offers a reflective observation on the inner causes of wrongdoing—how fixation on material gain fuels overpowering desire—within the broader war-time discourse of Shalya Parva.