Shloka 20
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
आचार्य पुत्र शस्त्रेण जहि मां मा चिरं कृथा: । त्वत्कृते सुकृताललोकान् गच्छेयं द्विपदां वर
ācārya-putra śastreṇa jahi māṁ mā ciraṁ kṛthāḥ | tvat-kṛte sukṛtāl lokān gaccheyaṁ dvipadāṁ vara ||
Sinabi ni Sanjaya: Habang mahigpit niyang sinasakmal ng mga kuko ang anak ni Droṇa, nagsalita siya sa putol-putol na tinig: “O anak ng guro, pinakamainam sa mga tao—huwag magtagal. Patayin mo ako sa pamamagitan ng alinmang sandata, upang sa pamamagitan mo’y makarating ako sa mga daigdig na nakakamit sa kabutihan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension of seeking a ‘good death’ and posthumous merit even amid brutality: the speaker urges being slain by a proper weapon (śastra), implying a belief that the manner and agency of death can shape one’s afterlife, while also exposing how war distorts moral judgment—turning killing into a means of ‘benefit’ for the slain.
In the night-raid context of the Sauptika Parva, a wounded or captured person clutches Droṇa’s son and, speaking indistinctly, begs him not to delay but to kill him with a weapon, so that he may attain meritorious realms ‘through’ Aśvatthāman’s act.