Shloka 58

Devanagari script

क्षत्रधर्मे प्रशस्तां हि प्राप्तोडस्मि परमां गतिम्‌ । नैष धर्मो महीपाला: शरतल्पगतस्य मे

Transliteration

kṣatradharme praśastāṃ hi prāpto ’smi paramāṃ gatim | naiṣa dharmo mahīpālāḥ śaratālpagatasya me ||

Translation

ด้วยธรรมของกษัตริย์นักรบอันได้รับการสรรเสริญ ข้าพเจ้าได้บรรลุคติอันสูงสุดแล้ว โอ้เหล่ากษัตริย์ บัดนี้เมื่อข้าพเจ้านอนอยู่บนแท่นแห่งศร นี่มิใช่ธรรมปฏิบัติอันควรแก่ข้าพเจ้าอีกต่อไป

Word by Word

क्षत्रधर्मेin the kshatriya-duty

प्रशस्ताम्praised, commendable

हिindeed, for

प्राप्तःhaving attained

अस्मिI am

परमाम्supreme

गतिम्state, goal, destiny

नnot

एषःthis

धर्मःduty, law

महीपालाःO kings (protectors of the earth)

शरतल्पगतस्यof (me) lying on the bed of arrows

मेof me, my

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mahīpālāḥ (kings/rulers)

kṣatradharma

śaratālpa (bed of arrows)

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 contrasts the glory of fulfilling kṣatriya-dharma—seen as leading to a ‘supreme destiny’—with the recognition that one’s appropriate conduct (dharma) changes with circumstance; a warrior’s active code is not the same when one is incapacitated and near death.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva context, the speaker reports a reflection tied to the battlefield situation: the ideal of attaining the highest end through righteous warrior-duty is affirmed, yet it is also stated that such a code is not applicable for someone lying on a bed of arrows (a clear allusion to Bhīṣma’s condition).