Shloka 173

Devanagari script

वध्यमानेषु वीरेषु तव पुत्रेषु धन्विषु । जनेश्वरर फिर आपके वीर थधनुर्धर पुत्रोंके इस प्रकार वहाँ मारे जानेपर भयंकर हाहाकार मच गया

Transliteration

vadhyamāneṣu vīreṣu tava putreṣu dhanviṣu | janeśvara bhayaṅkaraḥ hāhākāro 'bhavat ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Als dort deine heldenhaften, bogenführenden Söhne niedergemacht wurden, o Herr der Menschen, erhob sich ein schreckliches Wehgeschrei—ein Ausbruch von Trauer und Panik über den Untergang der Kaurava-Krieger.

Word by Word

वध्यमानेषुwhile being slain / when (they) were being killed

वीरेषुamong the heroes

तवof you / your

पुत्रेषुamong (your) sons

धन्विषुamong the bowmen / archers

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Kaurava sons (tava putrāḥ)

bow-wielding warriors (dhanvinaḥ)

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 underscores the human cost of war: even among celebrated heroes, slaughter leads not to glory but to collective anguish. It implicitly points to the ethical weight of choices that culminate in mass suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, as Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s bow-armed sons and warriors are being killed on the battlefield, a terrifying uproar of cries and lamentation breaks out among the Kaurava side.