Shloka 23

Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation

Devanagari script

अथापरेण भल्‍्लेन कुण्डधारं महारथम्‌ | प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय सर्वलोकस्य पश्यत:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

athāpareṇa bhallena kuṇḍadhāraṃ mahāratham |

prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya sarvalokasya paśyataḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Dann streckte Bhīmasena mit einem weiteren scharfen Pfeil Kuṇḍadhāra, den großen Wagenkämpfer, nieder und sandte ihn vor aller Augen in das Reich des Todes. Die Szene betont die harte Kriegsethik des Mahābhārata: Können und Entschlossenheit entscheiden im Kampf über Leben und Tod, und das öffentliche Zeugnis vergrößert sowohl den Ruhm als auch den tragischen Preis der Gewalt.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• अपरेण: by another
• अपरेण: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• भल्लेन: with an arrow
• भल्लेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भल्ल
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• कुण्डधारम्: Kundadhara (proper name)
• कुण्डधारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुण्डधार
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• महारथम्: the great chariot-warrior
• महारथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्राहिणोत्: sent
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-हि (धातु: हि/हिणोति)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मृत्युलोकाय: to the world of death
• मृत्युलोकाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्युलोक
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• सर्वलोकस्य: of all people / of the whole world
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वलोक
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पश्यतः: while (it was) seeing; in the presence of (as) one watching
• पश्यतः: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb-derived adjective (participle)
• Root: पश्यत् (from √पश्)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular, Present active

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kuṇḍadhāra
• mṛtyuloka (realm of Death)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the uncompromising reality of dharma in war: a kṣatriya battle is decisive and public, where skill and fate culminate in death, reminding the listener of the grave moral weight and cost of violence even amid sanctioned duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that a great warrior named Kuṇḍadhāra is struck down by another sharp arrow and is ‘sent to mṛtyuloka’—killed—before everyone watching on the battlefield.