Shloka 65

Devanagari script

त्वत्कृते व्यचरत्‌ संख्ये स तु षोडशवर्षवत्‌ । आचार्यके शरीरका रंग साँवला था। उनकी अवस्था चार सौ वर्षकी हो चुकी थी और उनके ऊपरसे लेकर कानतकके बाल सफेद हो गये थे, तो भी आपके हितके लिये वे संग्राममें सोलह वर्षकी उम्रवाले तरुणके समान विचरते थे || ६४ $ ।। उक्तवांश्व महाबाहु: कुन्तीपुत्रो धनंजय:,यद्यपि उस समय महाबाहु कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनने बहुत कहा--'ओ द्रुपदकुमार! तुम आचार्यको जीते-जी ले आओ। उनका वध न करना।” आपके सैनिक भी बारंबार कहते ही रह गये कि “न मारो, न मारो”

Transliteration

tvatkṛte vyacarat sa tu ṣoḍaśavarṣavat |

Translation

Sañjaya said: For your sake he moved about in the battle as though he were a sixteen-year-old youth. Though his body had grown aged and his hair had turned white, he still fought with youthful vigor, driven by loyalty to your cause.

Word by Word

त्वत्-कृतेfor your sake / on account of you

व्यचरत्moved about / fought / acted

संख्येin battle

सःhe

तुbut / indeed

षोडश-वर्ष-वत्like (one of) sixteen years (i.e., like a sixteen-year-old)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

ध

धृतराष्ट्र (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) (implied addressee)

आ

आचार्य (Droṇa) (contextual from surrounding passage)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how personal loyalty and obligation can override age and bodily limitation, but it also implicitly questions the ethics of a war in which elders are driven to fight with youthful intensity for another’s political ends.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how the (elder) teacher-warrior, fighting for the Kauravas, ranged through the battlefield with the energy of a sixteen-year-old, emphasizing his extraordinary martial vigor despite old age.