Shloka 18

Chapter 137: Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) Slays Somadatta; Yudhiṣṭhira Redirected from Droṇa

Devanagari script

यश्व संजय दुर्बुद्धिरब्रवीत्‌ समितौ मुहुः

Transliteration

yad vā sañjaya durbuddhir abravīt samitau muhuḥ

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Or else, Sañjaya, what was it that the evil-minded one kept saying again and again in the assembly of battle?”

Word by Word

• यश्वः: Yaśva (proper name)
• यश्वः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• संजय: O Sañjaya
• Type: Noun
• Root: संजय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• दुर्बुद्धिः: the evil-minded one / the foolish one
• दुर्बुद्धिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्बुद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अब्रवीत्: said / spoke
• Type: Verb
• Root: ब्रू (धातु)
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd, Singular

• समितौ: in the battle / in the assembly of combat
• समितौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समिति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• मुहुः: again and again / repeatedly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मुहुस् (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Sañjaya
• durbuddhiḥ (an unnamed evil-minded person)
• samiti (battle-assembly/field of combat)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights ethical discernment in speech and counsel: repeated utterances in a war-council can shape decisions and outcomes, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s labeling of someone as durbuddhi underscores the Mahābhārata’s concern with the moral quality of intention behind words.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions Sañjaya about what a certain ‘evil-minded’ person kept saying repeatedly in the battle assembly, pressing for details of the counsel or provocations voiced amid the ongoing war situation.