Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 2

Gadā-yuddhe Bhīma–Duryodhanayoḥ Tumulaḥ Saṃprahāraḥ

Mace-duel’s intense exchange

Devanagari script

धिगस्तु खलु मानुष्यं यस्य निछ्ठेयमीदृशी । एकादशचमूभर्ता यत्र पुत्रो ममानघ

Transliteration

dhig astu khalu mānuṣyaṁ yasya niṣṭheyam īdṛśī | ekādaśa-camū-bhartā yatra putro mamānagha |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Verflucht sei das Menschsein, wenn sein letzter Ausgang so unerquicklich ist! O Saṃjaya, du Schuldloser—mein Sohn, der einst elf Heere befehligte, der über Könige gebot und die ganze Erde genoss, als wäre er allein ihr Herr, ist zuletzt dahin geraten: die Keule in der Hand muss er zu Fuß, in Hast, in die Schlacht stürmen.“

Word by Word

• धिक्: fie! shame!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: धिक्

• अस्तु: let it be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Imperative (Vidhi-lin/Loṭ usage), 3, Singular, Parasmaipada

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

• मानुष्यम्: human state/birth
• मानुष्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानुष्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• यस्य: of which/whose
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• निष्ठेयम्: outcome, final result
• निष्ठेयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: निष्ठेय
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• ईदृशी: such (of this kind)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ईदृश
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• एकादश: eleven
• Type: Numeral/Adjective
• Root: एकादश
• Form: —, —, —

• चमू: army (host)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चमू
• Form: Feminine, —, —

• भर्ता: lord, master, bearer
• भर्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• एकादशचमूभर्ता: master of eleven armies
• एकादशचमूभर्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकादश-चमू-भर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यत्र: where, in which case
• यत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र

• पुत्रः: son
• पुत्रः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मम: my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• अनघ: O sinless one
• Type: Adjective (used as vocative noun)
• Root: अनघ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied as the father speaking of 'my son')
• Duryodhana (implied as 'my son', commander of eleven akṣauhiṇīs)
• camū (army/armies)
• gadā (mace, from the accompanying Gita Press prose context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Worldly power and sovereignty are unstable; even the mightiest commander can be reduced to a pitiable end. The verse frames this as an ethical lament on the fragility of human fortune and the tragic consequences of war and ambition.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shalya Parva, the speaker reports a lament about the king’s son: once lord of vast forces, he is now driven to a desperate final combat, highlighting the reversal of fortune at the war’s climax.