Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 34

Devanagari script

पिता मे निहत: क्षुद्रै: सुनुशंसेन कर्मणा

Transliteration

pitā me nihataḥ kṣudraiḥ sūnuśaṃsena karmaṇā

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Mein Vater ist von niederträchtigen Männern erschlagen worden — durch die grausame Tat des Sūnuśaṃsa.“

Word by Word

• पिता: father
• पिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मे: of me / my
• मे: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• निहतः: slain / killed
• निहतः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-हन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Past passive participle (क्त)

• क्षुद्रैः: by the vile / mean (ones)
• क्षुद्रैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षुद्र
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• सुनुशंसेन: by Sunuśaṃsa (proper name)
• सुनुशंसेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुनुशंस
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• कर्मणा: by an act / deed
• कर्मणा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Sūnuśaṃsa
• Sañjaya's father (unnamed in this half-verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line frames killing in war not merely as an event but as a morally charged action (karma): violence done with cruelty or baseness is condemned, and grief naturally seeks ethical judgment, not just factual reporting.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a personal loss: his father has been killed, and he attributes the killing to Sūnuśaṃsa, characterizing the perpetrators as ‘kṣudra’ (base) and the act as a cruel deed.