Shloka 64

Devanagari script

द्रौपदेयाश्न संक्रुद्धा अभ्यघ्नंस्तावकं बलम्‌ | इस प्रकार वहाँ महान्‌ संहारकारी एवं क्रूरतापूर्ण भारी युद्ध हुआ। इसी तरह पाण्डववीर धृष्टद्युम्न, शिखण्डी और द्रौपदीके पाँचों पुत्र आदिने भी कुपित होकर आपकी सेनाका संहार किया || ६३ $ ।। एवमेष क्षयो वृत्त: पाण्डवानां ततस्तत: । तावकानामपि रणे भीम॑ प्राप्प महाबलम्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

draupadeyāś ca saṅkruddhā abhyaghnan tāvakaṁ balam |

evam eṣa kṣayo vṛttaḥ pāṇḍavānāṁ tatas tataḥ |

tāvakānām api raṇe bhīmaṁ prāptaṁ mahābalam ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Von Zorn entflammt erschlugen die Söhne Draupadīs dein Heer. So vollzog sich immer wieder die Vernichtung der Kräfte der Pāṇḍavas; und in jener Schlacht erlitten auch deine Truppen furchtbare Verluste durch die Hand des mächtigen Bhīma.

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'draupadeyāḥ': 'the sons of Draupadī (Draupadeyas)', 'saṅkruddhāḥ': 'enraged, wrathful', 'abhyaghnan': 'they struck down, slew (intensive/forceful killing)', 'tāvakam': 'your (i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s) / belonging to you', 'balam': 'army, force', 'evam': 'thus, in this manner', 'eṣaḥ': 'this', 'kṣayaḥ': 'destruction, loss, annihilation', 'vṛttaḥ': 'occurred, happened', 'pāṇḍavānām': 'of the Pāṇḍavas', 'tatas tataḥ': 'here and there

• from place to place', 'tāvakānām': 'of your men/your side (Kauravas)', 'api': 'also', 'raṇe': 'in battle', 'bhīmam': 'Bhīma (also connotes ‘terrible’ by sense)', 'prāptam': 'met with, encountered, came upon', 'mahābalam': 'of great strength, mighty'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'tāvaka')
• Draupadī
• Draupadeyas (sons of Draupadī)
• Pāṇḍavas
• Kaurava army (tāvaka bala)
• Bhīma
• battlefield (raṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) fuels a self-reinforcing cycle of violence: losses on one side provoke retaliation, leading to repeated destruction on both sides. Ethically, it points to the heavy cost of war even when fought under kṣatriya-duty—victory and vengeance alike multiply suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Draupadī’s sons, enraged, are slaughtering the Kaurava forces. He then generalizes the scene: repeated losses are occurring among the Pāṇḍavas as well, while the Kauravas in battle are also being devastated—especially as they encounter the mighty Bhīma.