Shloka 82

Devanagari script

तथा पाण्डवसैन्यानि द्राव्यमाणानि भारत,भारत! भागती हुई पाण्डव-सेनाएँ कीचड़में फँसी हुई गायोंकी भाँति किसीको अपना रक्षक नहीं पाती थीं। समरभूमिमें बलवान्‌ भीष्मने उन दुर्बल सैनिकोंको चींटियोंकी भाँति मसल डाला

Transliteration

tathā pāṇḍavasainyāni drāvyamāṇāni bhārata |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „So auch, o Bhārata: Die Pāṇḍava-Heere, in die Flucht getrieben, fanden keinen Beschützer. Wie Rinder, die im Morast feststecken, konnten sie sich nicht befreien; und auf jenem Schlachtfeld zermalmte der mächtige Bhīṣma die geschwächten Soldaten, als wären sie Ameisen.“

Word by Word

तथाthus, in that manner

पाण्डवof the Pandavas

सैन्यानिarmies, troops

द्राव्यमाणानिbeing driven away / being put to flight

भारतO Bharata

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Pāṇḍava army

Bhīṣma

battlefield

mud/mire

cattle

ants

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, loss of protection and cohesion turns even a large force into helpless victims; strength without support and leadership collapses, and the powerful can overwhelm the weakened—raising ethical reflection on the harsh asymmetry of violence in battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Pāṇḍava troops are being driven back and cannot find a defender; stuck like cattle in mud, they are cut down by the mighty Bhīṣma, who crushes the weakened soldiers like ants.