Shloka 19

Devanagari script

द्वाभ्यामेव तु मासाभ्यां कृप: शारद्वतो5बवीत्‌ । द्रौणिस्तु दशरात्रेण प्रतिजज्ञे बलक्षयम्‌,कृपाचार्यने दो महीनोंमें पाण्डव-सेनाके संहारकी बात कही; परंतु अश्वत्थामाने दस ही दिनोंमें शत्रुसेनाके संहारकी प्रतिज्ञा कर ली

Transliteration

dvābhyām eva tu māsābhyāṃ kṛpaḥ śāradvato ’bravīt | drauṇis tu daśarātreṇa pratijajñe balakṣayam ||

Translation

قال سانجيا: «إن كِرْبا، ابن شَرَدْوَت، أعلن أنّه في شهرين فقط يمكن تدمير جيش الباندافا. أمّا أَشْوَتْثامان، ابن دْرونا، فقد نذر أن يُفني قوة العدو في عشر ليالٍ».

Word by Word

द्वाभ्याम्by/with two

एवindeed/only

तुbut/and

मासाभ्याम्by/within (two) months

कृपःKripa

शारद्वतःthe descendant of Sharadvat (patronymic of Kripa)

अबवीत्said/spoke

द्रौणिःDrauni (Ashvatthaman, son of Drona)

तुbut

दशरात्रेणwithin ten nights (i.e., in ten days)

प्रतिजज्ञेvowed/promised

बलक्षयम्destruction/decimation of the army

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kṛpa (Śāradvata)

Droṇi (Aśvatthāman)

Pāṇḍava army

enemy army

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how, in wartime, speech becomes a moral force: estimates and boasts can harden into vows (pratijñā), intensifying conflict. It invites reflection on restraint and responsibility—how confidence and ambition, when expressed as binding pledges, can accelerate violence and narrow ethical choices.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports contrasting claims from two Kuru-side figures: Kṛpa predicts the Pāṇḍava army’s destruction in two months, while Aśvatthāman, more aggressively, vows to accomplish the enemy’s ruin within ten nights—signaling rising determination and the sharpening of war plans.