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Shloka 553

Devanagari script

मृतो दुःखं न जानीते प्रेत्य चानन्त्यम श्रुते । 'क्षत्रियधर्मके अनुसार युद्ध करनेवाले वीरोंकी संग्राममें सुखपूर्वक मृत्यु होती है। वहाँ मरे हुएको मृत्युके दुःखका अनुभव नहीं होता और परलोकमें जानेपर उसे अक्षय सुखकी प्राप्ति होती है

Transliteration

mṛto duḥkhaṃ na jānīte pretya cānantyam aśnute | kṣatriyadharmake'nusāraṃ yuddhaṃ kurvato vīrasya saṅgrāme sukhapūrvakā mṛtyur bhavati | tatra mṛtasya mṛtyu-duḥkhasyānubhavo na bhavati, paralokaṃ gatvā cākṣaya-sukhaṃ prāpnoti |

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—మరణించినవాడు మరణదుఃఖాన్ని అనుభవించడు; పరలోకానికి చేరిన తరువాత అనంత సుఖాన్ని పొందును. క్షత్రియధర్మానుసారం యుద్ధం చేసే వీరునికి సంగ్రామంలో మరణం శుభమని చెప్పబడును; అతడు మరణవేదనను అనుభవించడు, పరలోకంలో అక్షయ సుఖాన్ని పొందును.

Word by Word

मृतःdead (person)

दुःखम्sorrow, pain

नnot

जानीतेknows/experiences

प्रेत्यhaving departed (after death)

चand

आनन्त्यम्endlessness; imperishable (bliss/state)

श्रुतेis heard/learned (is said to be attained)

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 frames battlefield death, when undertaken in accordance with kṣatriya-dharma, as ethically meaningful and spiritually fruitful: the dead do not experience the suffering of death, and the warrior gains an imperishable good in the afterlife. It reinforces the Mahābhārata’s recurrent linkage between svadharma (one’s rightful duty) and posthumous merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, offers a consolatory and exhortative reflection on the fate of warriors. In the midst of the Karṇa Parva’s intense fighting, he emphasizes that a hero who fights according to kṣatriya duty meets a ‘fortunate’ death and attains lasting reward beyond this life.