Shloka 38

Devanagari script

ते शरार्ता महाराज विप्रकीर्णमहाध्वजा:

Transliteration

te śarārtā mahārāja viprakīrṇa-mahādhvajāḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O great king, those warriors—wounded and tormented by arrows—had their great banners scattered and broken, their formations thrown into disarray.”

Word by Word

• ते: they/those
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शर-आर्ताः: afflicted by arrows
• शर-आर्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आर्त (√अर्द्/√ऋ)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महा-राज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• विप्रकीर्ण-महा-ध्वजाः: whose great banners were scattered
• विप्रकीर्ण-महा-ध्वजाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ध्वज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• arrows (śara)
• banners/standards (dhvaja)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the harsh reality of war: pride and pageantry (great banners) collapse under violence and suffering. It implicitly warns that external symbols of power are fragile when dharma is tested on the battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighters have been struck by arrows and are in distress; their bannered ranks are scattered, indicating a breakdown of order and morale amid intense combat.