Shloka 23

Duryodhana Seeks Droṇa’s Counsel; Imperative to Protect Jayadratha; Pāñcāla Assault on Duryodhana

Devanagari script

तान्‌ निकृत्तानिषून्‌ दृष्टवा दूरतो ब्रह्म॒वादिना

Transliteration

tān nikṛttāniṣūn dṛṣṭvā dūrato brahmavādinā

Translation

Sañjaya said: Seeing from afar those warriors cut down and left lifeless, the brahma-speaking narrator (Sañjaya) reported the grim outcome of battle—an image that shows how swiftly martial prowess, when unguided by restraint, turns into irreversible loss.

Word by Word

• तान्: those (men)
• तान्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• निकृत्त: cut down, severed
• निकृत्त: कर्म
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि + कृद् (कृन्तति) → निकृत्त (कृदन्त/भूतकर्मणि)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• निषून्: slain, killed
• निषून्: कर्म
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि + सू (हिंसायाम्) → निषू (कृदन्त/भूतकर्मणि) ; प्रातिपदिक: निषू
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दृश् (दर्शन) → दृष्ट्वा (क्त्वान्त अव्यय)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (absolutive)

• दूरतः: from afar
• दूरतः: अपादान
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दूर (प्रातिपदिक) → दूरतः (तसिल्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: तसिल् (ablatival adverb)

• ब्रह्मवादिना: by the brahma-speaker / learned brahmin (one who speaks of Brahman/Veda)
• ब्रह्मवादिना: करण
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मवादिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical gravity of war: the distant sight of the slain becomes a moral reminder that violence yields irreversible consequences, and that truthful narration (brahmavāda) must not conceal the cost of adharma-driven conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, as the reporter of the Kurukṣetra war, describes seeing from a distance warriors who have been cut down and lie dead, setting a somber tone for the events being recounted.