Shloka 13
द्रोण–सात्यकि द्वैरथम्
Droṇa and Sātyaki: The Chariot Duel
स तु हत्वा सहस्राणि नराश्वरथदन्तिनाम् अष्टौ रथसहस्राणि नव दन्तिशतानि च
sa tu hatvā sahasrāṇi narāśvarathadantinām aṣṭau rathasahasrāṇi nava dantiśatāni ca
সেই বীৰে মানুহ, ঘোঁৰা, ৰথী আৰু হাতীৰ সহস্ৰ সহস্ৰক বধ কৰিলে; আৰু আঠ হাজাৰ ৰথ আৰু ন’শ হাতীও ধ্বংস কৰিলে।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the immense human and material cost of war. In Yudhiṣṭhira’s voice, the enumeration of slain forces becomes an ethical mirror: even when battle is framed as a kṣatriya obligation, the magnitude of destruction presses the listener to weigh victory against dharma, compassion, and responsibility.
Yudhiṣṭhira reports (or recalls) a warrior’s battlefield feat by counting the numbers of combatants and war-assets destroyed—thousands across men, horses, chariots, and elephants—specifically noting eight thousand chariots and nine hundred elephants, emphasizing the ferocity and scale of the fighting in Droṇa Parva.