Shloka 26

शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni

with Ulūka’s fall

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शल्यपर्वमें धतराष्ट्रके ग्यारह पुत्रोंका वधविषयक छब्बीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,मम होतदशक्तं वै वाजिवृन्दमरिंदम

Transliteration

iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārate śalyaparvaṇi dhṛtarāṣṭrasya ekādaśa putrāṇāṁ vadhaviṣayakaḥ ṣaḍviṁśatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ | mama hotadaśaktaṁ vai vājivṛndaṁ arindama ||

Translation

So endet das sechsundzwanzigste Kapitel des ehrwürdigen Mahābhārata im Śalya-Parvan, das von der Tötung der elf Söhne Dhṛtarāṣṭras handelt. Sañjaya fügt hinzu, seine eigene Kraft habe gegen die dicht geschlossene Masse der Pferde nicht ausgereicht—ein Eingeständnis, dass im moralischen Verfall des Krieges persönliches Bemühen und Treue ihre Grenze finden vor der überwältigenden Maschinerie der Schlacht.

Word by Word

• मम: of me / my
• मम: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: षष्ठी, एकवचन

• होतद्: the hotṛ (sacrificial priest) / (reading uncertain)
• होतद्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: होतृ (होतृ-शब्दः) / होत (अनिश्चित-पाठ)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (अनिश्चित), एकवचन

• अशक्तम्: unable, powerless
• अशक्तम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अशक्त
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वै: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• वाजिवृन्दम्: a troop/herd of horses
• वाजिवृन्दम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाजि + वृन्द
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अरिंदम: O subduer of foes / enemy-subduer
• अरिंदम: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरिंदम
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन/प्रथमा (अनिश्चित), एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Śalya Parva
• Mahābhārata
• eleven sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• vājivṛnda (host of horses/cavalry)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a closing colophon and a reflective note: even committed witnesses and participants must acknowledge human limitation in the face of war’s vast, impersonal forces. It underscores the ethical tragedy that the conflict consumes lineages (Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons) and reduces agency to helplessness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya marks the completion of a chapter in the Śalya Parvan that concerns the killing of eleven sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and he remarks that he was not capable of withstanding or countering the great host of horses (cavalry), addressing an ‘enemy-subduer’ (arindama).