Shloka 223
प्रियेभ्य: प्रकृतं साधु को नु स्वन्ततरो मया । “दूसरे राष्ट्रोपर आक्रमण किया और कितने ही राजाओंसे दासकी भाँति सेवाएँ लीं। जो अपने प्रिय व्यक्ति थे, उनकी सदा ही भलाई की। फिर मुझसे अच्छा अन्त किसका हुआ होगा?
priyebhyaḥ prakṛtaṃ sādhu ko nu svantataro mayā |
Wika ni Sañjaya: “Mabuti ang naging asal ko sa mga minamahal ko; sino nga ba ang makapagtatamo ng wakas na higit na mabuti kaysa sa akin? Nilusob ko ang ibang mga kaharian at pinilit ang maraming hari na maglingkod na parang mga alipin, ngunit tiniyak ko pa rin ang kapakanan ng aking mga iniibig—kaya anong wakas ang hihigit pa sa wakas ko?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral self-assessment at the end of life: a person may justify harsh political actions (conquest and subjugation) by appealing to loyalty and beneficence toward one’s own loved ones, raising the ethical tension between private virtue and public wrongdoing.
Sañjaya reports a speaker’s reflective claim about his life and end: despite having waged aggressive campaigns and forced other rulers into servitude, he asserts that he consistently did good to his own dear ones and therefore considers his end unsurpassed.