Shloka 11
Aśvatthāmā’s Buddhi-Doctrine and Nocturnal Incursion Resolve (अश्वत्थाम्नः बुद्धिविचारः सौप्तिकसंकल्पश्च)
अन्यया यौवने मर्त्यों बुद्धथया भवति मोहित: । मध्येडन्यया जरायां तु सो<न्यां रोचयते मतिम्
anyayā yauvane martyo buddhayā bhavati mohitaḥ | madhye 'nyayā jarāyāṃ tu so 'nyāṃ rocayate matim ||
三阇耶说道：凡人于少壮之时，常为一种见解所迷惑；至人生中段，又为另一种见解所牵引；而到老年，则转而赞许别样的判断。是故，心之所好随年岁而迁移；人所谓“正当”或“可欲”，往往染着其所处生命阶段之色，而非出自恒常不动的明辨。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human judgment is not fixed: youth, mid-life, and old age each tend to favor different kinds of thinking and desires. The verse cautions that what feels convincing may be shaped by age-based impulses, so one should seek steadier discernment rather than be led by shifting preferences.
In the Sauptika Parva context, Sañjaya is describing patterns of human mentality and motivation. He generalizes about how people’s ‘buddhi’ and ‘mati’ change across life stages, framing the moral-psychological background against which decisions and actions in the aftermath of war are understood.