Mahabharata 9.60.44 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 60, Shloka 44

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

Devanagari script

यस्तु कर्तास्य वैरस्थ निकृत्या निकृतिप्रिय: । सो<यं विनिहतः शेते पृथिव्यां पृथिवीपते

Transliteration

yastu kartāsya vairasya nikṛtyā nikṛtipriyaḥ | so 'yaṁ vinihataḥ śete pṛthivyāṁ pṛthivīpate ||

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า “ข้าแต่พระมหาราชา ผู้เป็นเจ้าแห่งแผ่นดิน! ผู้ใดก่อรากแห่งความพยาบาทนี้ด้วยเล่ห์กล และยินดีในความลวง บัดนี้ผู้นั้นถูกสังหารนอนแน่นิ่งอยู่บนพื้นพิภพ ผลแห่งคำปรึกษาคดเคี้ยวและอุบายอันผิดธรรมได้ย้อนกลับสู่ผู้ก่อการ ท่ามกลางความพินาศแห่งสงคราม”

Word by Word

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• कर्ता: doer/agent
• कर्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्तृ (कृ धातु से कर्तृ-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अस्य: of this (man)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• वैरस्य: of enmity
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• निकृत्या: by deceit/treachery
• निकृत्या: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: निकृति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• निकृतिप्रियः: fond of deceit
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निकृतिप्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अयम्: this (very one)
• अयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• विनिहतः: slain/killed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-नि-हन् (धातु) → विनिहत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• शेते: lies
• Type: Verb
• Root: शी (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथम, एकवचन

• पृथिव्याम्: on the earth
• पृथिव्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• पृथिवीपते: O lord of the earth (king)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवीपति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address pṛthivīpate)
• Earth (pṛthivī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores an ethical principle repeatedly affirmed in the Mahābhārata: treachery and delight in deceit (nikṛti) ultimately recoil upon the doer. Even if such tactics seem effective in the short term, they corrode dharma and culminate in ruin and disgrace.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the chief instigator of the present hostility—characterized as one who used deceit and loved deceit—has been slain and now lies on the ground. The line functions as a moral commentary on the downfall of those who foment war through crooked means.