Shloka 7

Adhyāya 107 — बहुयुद्धप्रकरणम्

Multiple Defensive Engagements to Protect Bhīṣma

Devanagari script

पादाताश्चापि शस्त्राणि समुत्सृज्य महारणे । निरपेक्षा व्यधावन्त तेन तेन सम भारत

Transliteration

pādātāś cāpi śastrāṇi samutsṛjya mahāraṇe | nirapekṣā vyadhāvanta tena tena sama bhārata ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: In that great battle, even the foot-soldiers cast aside their weapons and, caring for nothing, fled in all directions, O Bhārata.

Word by Word

• {'pādātāḥ': 'foot-soldiers, infantry', 'ca api': 'and also, even', 'śastrāṇi': 'weapons, arms', 'samutsṛjya': 'having thrown away, abandoning', 'mahāraṇe': 'in the great battle', 'nirapekṣāḥ': 'without regard (for anything), indifferent to consequences', 'vyadhāvanta': 'they ran, they fled', 'tena tena': 'here and there, in various directions', 'sama': 'O Sama (address to the Bharata king

• a vocative epithet)', 'bhārata': 'O Bhārata (descendant of Bharata

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)
• pādātāḥ (infantry)
• śastrāṇi (weapons)
• mahāraṇa (great battle)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how fear can erode dharma in crisis: when courage and discipline fail, even trained warriors abandon their arms and responsibilities, showing the ethical and psychological breakdown that war can induce.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that in the intensity of the fighting, infantrymen threw away their weapons and fled in different directions, indicating a moment of rout and confusion on the battlefield.