Mahabharata 7.189.213 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 189, Shloka 213

Devanagari script

कुलसत्त्ववलोपेता वाजिनो वारणोपमा: । रथोंके पहिये रक्तकी कीचमें डूब जाते थे

Transliteration

kulasattvabalopetā vājinō vāraṇopamāḥ | rathānāṃ cakrāṇi raktapaṅke nimagnāni santi, tathāpi te bāṇapīḍitāḥ kampamānāḥ pariśramāt klāntāś ca aśvāḥ kathaṃcid dhairyam ālambya tān rathān vahanti | te sarve aśvāḥ uttamakulajāḥ sāhasabalasampannāś ca gajopamā mahākāyāḥ |

Translation

قال سانجيا: كانت الخيول—من سلالةٍ كريمة، ذات بأسٍ وقوة، عظيمةَ الجثة كالفيلة—تواصل جرَّ المركبات حتى حين كانت العجلات تغوص في وحلٍ من الدم. ومع أنها كانت تُعذَّب بالسهام، ترتجف وتخور من شدة الكدّ، فإنها كانت على أي حال تتماسك، وتثبت على عزمها، وتحمل العبء إلى الأمام.

Word by Word

• कुल: of (good) lineage
• कुल: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• सत्त्व: courage/strength (as a quality)
• सत्त्व: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्त्व
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• वल: strength/power
• वल: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• उपेताः: endowed with/possessed of
• उपेताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उप-इ (उपेत)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वाजिनः: horses
• वाजिनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाजिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वारण: of elephants
• वारण: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• उपमाः: comparable to/like
• उपमाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपमा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• horses (vājinaḥ)
• chariots (rathāḥ)
• wheels (cakrāṇi)
• arrows (bāṇāḥ)
• elephants (vāraṇāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights steadfast endurance (dhairya) amid extreme adversity, while also implicitly exposing the ethical cost of war: suffering extends beyond combatants to animals and the environment, making the battlefield a place of shared pain rather than glory alone.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where chariot wheels sink into a mire of blood; despite being wounded by arrows and exhausted, the massive war-horses continue to pull the chariots through sheer fortitude.