Shloka 25

Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)

Devanagari script

हतमात्मसुतं दृष्टवा कलिड्रानां जनाधिप:

Transliteration

hatam ātmasutaṃ dṛṣṭvā kaliḍrāṇāṃ janādhipaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Als er seinen eigenen Sohn erschlagen sah, wurde der Herrscher der Kaliḍras von Schmerz und Bestürzung getroffen—ein Bild dafür, wie der Krieg selbst Könige zu Trauernden macht und wie die Bindung an das ‚Eigene‘ zur Quelle der Qual wird, wenn Pflicht und Ordnung auf dem Schlachtfeld zusammenbrechen.“

Word by Word

• हतम्: slain
• हतम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हन् (क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आत्मसुतम्: one's own son
• आत्मसुतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मसुत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (त्वा)
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• कलिङ्गानाम्: of the Kalingas
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलिङ्ग
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• जनाधिपः: the king (lord of people)
• जनाधिपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जनाधिप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• the ruler (janādhipa) of the Kaliḍras
• the ruler’s son (ātmasuta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the human cost of war: even those who uphold martial duty are not spared the suffering born of attachment and loss. It implicitly contrasts the ideals of kṣatriya-dharma with the emotional devastation that battle inevitably brings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment in which the king of the Kaliḍras sees his own son killed, marking a turn from command and valor to grief and disorientation amid the ongoing conflict.