Shloka 16

Devanagari script

यक्षा नागास्तथा दैत्या ये चान्ये बलगर्विता:

Transliteration

yakṣā nāgās tathā daityā ye cānye balagarvitāḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Yakṣas, Nāgas, and Daityas—along with other beings swollen with the pride of their own strength…”

Word by Word

• यक्षाः: Yakshas
• यक्षाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नागाः: Nagas (serpent-beings)
• नागाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: and also/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• दैत्याः: Daityas (demons)
• दैत्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दैत्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ये: who/which
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अन्ये: others
• अन्ये: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• बलगर्विताः: proud of (their) strength
• बलगर्विताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बलगर्वित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Yakṣas
• Nāgas
• Daityas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical danger of balagarva—pride in sheer strength. In the Mahābhārata’s moral vision, power without humility and dharma becomes a cause of ruin, drawing even mighty beings into destructive outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is listing formidable classes of beings—Yakṣas, Nāgas, Daityas, and others—describing them as proud of their strength, as part of a broader depiction of the immense forces and participants connected to the war’s events.