Sanjaya's Reply to Yudhishthira

Verse 1 (5.24.1)

यथाऽऽत्थ मे पाण्डव तत्तथैव । कुरून्कुरुश्रेष्ठ जनं च पृच्छसि । अनामयास्तात मनस्विनस्ते । कुरुश्रेष्ठान्पृच्छसि पार्थ यांस्त्वम् ॥

yathā''ttha me pāṇḍava tattathaiva | kurūnkuruśreṣṭha janaṃ ca pṛcchasi | anāmayāstāta manasvinaste | kuruśreṣṭhānpṛcchasi pārtha yāṃstvam

It is just as you say, son of Pandu. You ask after the Kurus and their people, best of the Kurus: those foremost Kurus you ask about, Partha, are well, my friend, and in good heart.

Verse 2 (5.24.2)

सन्त्येव वृद्धाः साधवो धार्तराष्ट्रे । सन्त्येव पापाः पाण्डव तस्य विद्धि । दद्याद्रिपुभ्योऽपि हि धार्तराष्ट्रः । कुतो दायांल्लोपयेद्ब्राह्मणानाम् ॥

santyeva vṛddhāḥ sādhavo dhārtarāṣṭre | santyeva pāpāḥ pāṇḍava tasya viddhi | dadyādripubhyo'pi hi dhārtarāṣṭraḥ | kuto dāyāṃllopayedbrāhmaṇānām

There are indeed aged and good men with Dhritarashtra's son, and there are wicked ones too, Pandava — know this. Dhritarashtra's son would give even to his enemies; how then would he take away the grants of the brahmins?

Verse 3 (5.24.3)

यद्युष्मासु वर्ततेऽसावधर्म्य- । मद्रुग्धेषु द्रुग्धवत्तन्न साधु । मित्रध्रुक् स्याद्धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्रो । युष्मान्द्विषन्साधुवृत्तानसाधुः ॥

yadyuṣmāsu vartate'sāvadharmya- | madrugdheṣu drugdhavattanna sādhu | mitradhruk syāddhṛtarāṣṭrasya putro | yuṣmāndviṣansādhuvṛttānasādhuḥ

If he acts unrighteously toward you, treating you who have done him no harm as though you had, that is not good. The son of Dhritarashtra would be a betrayer of friends, a wicked man, if he hated you whose conduct is good.

Note on the text: Corrected द्विपन् → द्विषन् (misprint in Wikisource; प for ष, 'hating'; CE dviṣan).

Verse 4 (5.24.4)

स चापि जानाति भृशं च तप्यते । शोचत्यन्तः स्थविरोऽजातशत्रो । शृणोति हि ब्राह्मणानां समेत्य । मित्रद्रोहः पातकेभ्यो गरीयान् ॥

sa cāpi jānāti bhṛśaṃ ca tapyate | śocatyantaḥ sthaviro'jātaśatro | śṛṇoti hi brāhmaṇānāṃ sametya | mitradrohaḥ pātakebhyo garīyān

And the old man knows this and is sorely pained, Ajatashatru; he grieves within. For he hears from the brahmins when they meet that betraying a friend is worse than any other sin.

Note on the text: Corrected यरीयान् → गरीयान् (misprint in Wikisource; य for ग, as the page's own commentary reads it, गरीयानिति; CE garīyān).

Verse 5 (5.24.5)

स्मरन्ति तुभ्यं नरदेव सङ्गमे । युद्धे च जिष्णोश्च युधां प्रणेतुः । समुद्धुष्टे दुन्दुभिशङ्खशब्दे । गदापाणिं भीमसेनं स्मरन्ति ॥

smaranti tubhyaṃ naradeva saṅgame | yuddhe ca jiṣṇośca yudhāṃ praṇetuḥ | samuddhuṣṭe dundubhiśaṅkhaśabde | gadāpāṇiṃ bhīmasenaṃ smaranti

In every clash and battle, lord of men, they remember you and Jishnu, the leader in war. When the din of kettledrums and conches rings out, they remember Bhimasena, mace in hand.

Verse 6 (5.24.6)

माद्रीसुतौ चापि तथाऽऽजिमध्ये । सर्वा दिशः संपतन्तौ स्मरन्ति । सेनां वर्षन्तौ शरवर्षैरजस्रं । महारथौ समरे दुष्प्रकम्पौ ॥

mādrīsutau cāpi tathā''jimadhye | sarvā diśaḥ saṃpatantau smaranti | senāṃ varṣantau śaravarṣairajasraṃ | mahārathau samare duṣprakampau

They remember the two sons of Madri too, rushing in every direction in the thick of battle, pouring a ceaseless rain of arrows on the army — great chariot-warriors, unshaken in combat.

Note on the text: Corrected शग्वैपरजमं → शरवर्षैरजस्रं (garbled in Wikisource, not a word; restored to the critical edition's form, CE śaravarṣair ajasraṃ).

Verse 7 (5.24.7)

न त्वेव मन्ये पुरुषस्य राज- । न्ननागतं ज्ञायते यद्भविष्यम् । त्वं चेदिमं सर्वधर्मोपपन्नः । प्राप्तः क्लेशं पाण्डव कृच्छ्ररूपम् । त्वमेवैतत्सर्वमतश्च भूयः । समीकुर्याः प्रज्ञयाऽजातशत्रो ॥

na tveva manye puruṣasya rāja- | nnanāgataṃ jñāyate yadbhaviṣyam | tvaṃ cedimaṃ sarvadharmopapannaḥ | prāptaḥ kleśaṃ pāṇḍava kṛcchrarūpam | tvamevaitatsarvamataśca bhūyaḥ | samīkuryāḥ prajñayā'jātaśatro

But I do not think, O king, that a man can know what is yet to come — since even you, endowed with every virtue, have met with such grievous hardship, Pandava. You alone, Ajatashatru, can by your wisdom set all this right, and more besides.

Note on the text: Restored from the critical edition (5.24.7a–d and 8a): Wikisource numbers this verse 7f and prints only its last line (समीकुर्याः प्रज्ञयाऽजातशत्रो, = CE 5.24.8b); the five lost lines are restored from the CE, the 7f number marking a six-line verse (the page's commentary on v. 7 glosses अनागतं, from the lost second line).

Verse 8 (5.24.8)

न कामार्थं सन्त्यजेयुर्हि धर्मं । पाण्डोः सुताः सर्व एवेन्द्रकल्पाः । त्वमेवैतत्प्रज्ञयाऽजातशत्रो । समीकुर्या येन शर्माप्नुयुस्ते ॥

na kāmārthaṃ santyajeyurhi dharmaṃ | pāṇḍoḥ sutāḥ sarva evendrakalpāḥ | tvamevaitatprajñayā'jātaśatro | samīkuryā yena śarmāpnuyuste

The sons of Pandu, every one of them like Indra, would never abandon dharma for the sake of pleasure or gain. You alone, Ajatashatru, can by your wisdom make all things even, so that they may find peace —

Note on the text: Wikisource divides this passage differently from the critical edition: this verse = CE 5.24.8cd + 9ab (समीकुर्या for CE śamaṃ kuryā).

Verse 9 (5.24.9)

धार्तराष्ट्राः पाण्डवाः सृञ्जयाश्च । ये चाप्यन्ये सन्निविष्टा नरेन्द्राः । यन्मां ब्रवीद्धृतराष्ट्रो निशाया- । मजातशत्रो वचनं पिता ते ॥

dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ pāṇḍavāḥ sṛñjayāśca | ye cāpyanye sanniviṣṭā narendrāḥ | yanmāṃ bravīddhṛtarāṣṭro niśāyā- | majātaśatro vacanaṃ pitā te

the sons of Dhritarashtra, the Pandavas, the Srinjayas and the other kings gathered here. Hear, Ajatashatru, the words your father Dhritarashtra spoke to me at night.

Note on the text: Corrected चाप्यन्ते → चाप्यन्ये (misprint in Wikisource; त for य, 'and the others'; CE cāpy anye). This verse = CE 5.24.9cd + 10ab.

Verse 10 (5.24.10)

सहामात्यः सहपुत्रश्च राजन् । समेत्य तां वाचमिमां निबोध ॥

sahāmātyaḥ sahaputraśca rājan | sametya tāṃ vācamimāṃ nibodha

Gather with your ministers and your sons, O king, and listen to this message of his.

Note on the text: A half-verse in Wikisource (10a–b) = CE 5.24.10cd.