Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 213
आजानेयैस्तथा यात॑ को नु स्वन्ततरो मया । “बड़े-बड़े राजाओंपर हुक्म चलाया, अत्यन्त दुर्लभ सम्मान प्राप्त किया तथा आजानेय (अरबी) घोड़ोंपर सवारी की, मुझसे अच्छा अन्त और किसका हुआ होगा?
ājāneyais tathā yātaḥ ko nu svantataro mayā |
Sañjaya nói: “Ta đã cưỡi những tuấn mã ājāneya, đã ra lệnh trên các bậc đại vương, giành được vinh dự khó bề đạt tới—vậy còn ai, thật vậy, có thể gặp một kết cục tốt đẹp hơn ta?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between worldly achievement (power, prestige, luxury) and the true measure of a ‘good end.’ It implicitly questions whether external honors can justify self-satisfaction at life’s close, especially amid the ethical devastation of war.
Sañjaya voices a reflective, self-justifying thought: he recalls having commanded great kings, received rare honors, and ridden excellent horses, and then asks rhetorically who could have had a better end than his—framing a moment of evaluation of one’s life by worldly standards.