Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 213
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?
ājāneyais tathā yātaḥ ko nu svantataro mayā |
सञ्जय उवाच— आजानेयैस्तथा यातः को नु स्वन्ततरो मया। महान्तो नृपतीन् आज्ञाप्य दुर्लभं मानमाप्तवान्; आजानेयाश्वानारुह्य मम मृत्युः कस्य वा वरः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.