Shloka 14

धृतराष्ट्रस्य संजयप्रश्नः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Inquiry to Saṃjaya on Strategic Comparisons

Devanagari script

न चेत्‌ प्रयच्छध्वममित्रघातिनो युधिष्ठटिरस्थ समभीप्सितं स्वकम्‌ । नयामि व: साश्वपदातिकुञ्जरान्‌ दिशं पितृणामशिवां शितैः शरै:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

na cet prayacchadhvam amitraghātino yudhiṣṭhirastha samabhīpsitaṃ svakam |

nayāmi vaḥ sāśvapadātikuñjarān diśaṃ pitṝṇām aśivāṃ śitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “If you do not restore to the foe-slaying Yudhiṣṭhira what is rightfully his and what he seeks—his own share of the kingdom—then with my sharp arrows I will drive you, together with your cavalry, infantry, and elephant corps, toward the inauspicious quarter of the Fathers, the realm of death.”

Word by Word

• {'na cet': 'if not

• unless', 'prayacchadhvam': 'you (pl.) should give/hand over

• restore', 'amitraghātinaḥ': 'to the slayer of enemies (epithet)', 'yudhiṣṭhirasya': 'of/for Yudhiṣṭhira', 'samabhīpsitam': 'desired

• intended to obtain', 'svakam': 'one’s own

• rightful (share/possession)', 'nayāmi': 'I will lead/drive (forcefully)', 'vaḥ': 'you (pl.)', 'sa-aśva-pādāti-kuñjarān': 'together with horsemen, foot-soldiers, and elephant-riders/elephants', 'diśam': 'direction

• quarter', 'pitṝṇām': 'of the Pitṛs (ancestral spirits)

• by extension, the world of the dead', 'aśivām': 'inauspicious

• ill-omened', 'śitaiḥ': 'sharp

• whetted', 'śaraiḥ': 'with arrows'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitṛs (ancestral spirits)
• arrows (śara)
• cavalry (aśva)
• infantry (pādāti)
• elephants/elephant corps (kuñjara)