Shloka 14

Devanagari script

व्यावर्तये रथं तूर्ण नदीवेगमिवार्णवात्‌

Transliteration

vyāvartaye rathaṁ tūrṇaṁ nadīvegam ivārṇavāt

Translation

Sañjaya said: “I swiftly turned the chariot back, as one would divert a rushing river-current away from the ocean.”

Word by Word

• व्यावर्तये: I turn back / I wheel around
• व्यावर्तये: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यावर्तय् (√वृत् caus.)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), उत्तम, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• रथम्: chariot
• रथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तूर्णम्: swiftly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तूर्ण

• नदीवेगम्: the river’s current
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदीवेग
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अर्णवात्: from the ocean
• अर्णवात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्णव
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• ratha (chariot)
• nadī (river)
• ārṇava (ocean/sea)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid overwhelming forces—like a river rushing to the sea—timely and resolute intervention can redirect events. The verse highlights human agency and strategic decisiveness in a moral and martial crisis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a rapid maneuver: the chariot is turned back at once. The simile of diverting a river-current from the ocean conveys both speed and the difficulty of reversing a powerful course once it has gathered momentum.