Shloka 196

Devanagari script

उद्देशेन हि तेन सम समयुध्यन्त पार्थिवा: । राजन! वे शत्रुसैनिक तथा हमलोग आपसमें कोई किसीको पहचान नहीं पाते थे। इसलिये नाम बतानेसे ही राजालोग एक-दूसरेके साथ युद्ध करते थे

Transliteration

uddeśena hi tena sama-samāyudhyanta pārthivāḥ | rājan! te śatru-sainikāḥ tathā vayam ātmanaḥ parasparaṃ na kaṃcid api pratyabhijānīmaḥ | tasmān nāma-nivedanenaiva rājānaḥ parasparaṃ saha yuddham akurvan |

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, because of that agreed signal, the kings fought on equal terms. In that press of battle, the enemy’s soldiers and we could not recognize one another at all. Therefore the rulers engaged each other only after declaring their names—so that combat might proceed with some order and accountability amid the confusion of war.

Word by Word

• उद्देशेन: by indication/mention (of name)
• उद्देशेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उद्देश
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• हि: indeed/for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• तेन: by that/therefore
• तेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• सम: together/equally
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम

• समयुध्यन्त: they fought
• Type: Verb
• Root: युध्
• Form: Imperfect, 3rd, Plural, Atmanepada

• पार्थिवाः: kings/earthly rulers
• पार्थिवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra
• kings (pārthivāḥ)
• enemy soldiers (śatru-sainikāḥ)