Shloka 23

Duryodhana Seeks Droṇa’s Counsel; Imperative to Protect Jayadratha; Pāñcāla Assault on Duryodhana

Devanagari script

तान्‌ निकृत्तानिषून्‌ दृष्टवा दूरतो ब्रह्म॒वादिना

Transliteration

tān nikṛttāniṣūn dṛṣṭvā dūrato brahmavādinā

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Als er von ferne jene Krieger sah, die niedergestreckt, zerschnitten und leblos zurückgelassen waren, berichtete der brahmanisch sprechende Erzähler (Sañjaya) vom düsteren Ausgang der Schlacht—ein Bild, das zeigt, wie rasch kriegerische Kunst, wenn sie nicht durch Selbstzucht gelenkt wird, in unwiderruflichen Verlust umschlägt.

Word by Word

• तान्: those (men)
• तान्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• निकृत्त: cut down, severed
• निकृत्त: कर्म
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि + कृद् (कृन्तति) → निकृत्त (कृदन्त/भूतकर्मणि)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• निषून्: slain, killed
• निषून्: कर्म
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि + सू (हिंसायाम्) → निषू (कृदन्त/भूतकर्मणि) ; प्रातिपदिक: निषू
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दृश् (दर्शन) → दृष्ट्वा (क्त्वान्त अव्यय)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (absolutive)

• दूरतः: from afar
• दूरतः: अपादान
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दूर (प्रातिपदिक) → दूरतः (तसिल्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: तसिल् (ablatival adverb)

• ब्रह्मवादिना: by the brahma-speaker / learned brahmin (one who speaks of Brahman/Veda)
• ब्रह्मवादिना: करण
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मवादिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical gravity of war: the distant sight of the slain becomes a moral reminder that violence yields irreversible consequences, and that truthful narration (brahmavāda) must not conceal the cost of adharma-driven conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, as the reporter of the Kurukṣetra war, describes seeing from a distance warriors who have been cut down and lie dead, setting a somber tone for the events being recounted.