Shloka 213

Devanagari script

जीवन्त इव तत्र सम व्यदृश्यन्त भयार्दिता: | बहुत-से रथी घोड़े और सारथिके मारे जानेपर भयसे पीड़ित हो ऐसे निश्रैष्ट हो गये थे कि जीवित होते हुए भी वहाँ मरेके समान दिखायी देते थे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | jīvanta iva tatra sama vyadṛśyanta bhayārditāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya sagte: Vom Schrecken gepeinigt, erschienen sie dort wie lebendig und doch wie tot—so betäubt und entseelt waren viele Krieger, wenn ihre Wagenlenker und Pferde erschlagen worden waren. Der Vers zeigt, wie Furcht und Schock im Krieg den Menschen innerlich aushöhlen können: Der Leib steht noch, doch Mut und Entschlusskraft brechen in ihm zusammen.

Word by Word

जीवन्ताःliving

इवas if

तत्रthere

समम्equally, altogether

व्यदृश्यन्तwere seen, appeared

भयार्दिताःafflicted by fear

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

chariots (ratha)

horses (aśva)

charioteers (sārathi)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral-psychological truth that fear can render a person functionally inert: even while alive, one may appear 'dead' in spirit. In the dharma context, it warns that courage and steadiness are essential for those bound to battlefield duty, and that panic can dissolve responsibility and discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where many fighters, after losing their horses and charioteers, become overwhelmed by fear. They stand or remain present but are so shocked and helpless that they look like living corpses—alive in body, defeated in will.