Shloka 18

Devanagari script

मनोगतं मम हाासीद्‌ भीष्मद्रोणी महारथौ

Transliteration

manogataṁ mama hāsīd bhīṣma-droṇī mahārathau

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Alas, in my mind I had held Bhīṣma and Droṇa—those two great chariot-warriors—as the decisive pillars of our cause.”

Word by Word

• मनोगतम्: in the mind; mental (thought)
• मनोगतम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मनोगत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• मम: of me; my
• मम: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• हा: alas!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हा
• Form: true

• आसीत्: was
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• भीष्मद्रोणी: Bhishma and Drona
• भीष्मद्रोणी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्मद्रोणी
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• महारथौ: two great chariot-warriors
• महारथौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīṣma
• Droṇa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how reliance on even the greatest worldly supports—powerful leaders and famed warriors—can prove fragile in the face of destiny and the moral complexity of war; inner assumptions (manogata) may collapse when events unfold.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, laments that he had mentally counted Bhīṣma and Droṇa as the key great warriors (mahārathas) whose presence would secure the Kaurava side, implying disappointment after their fall or ineffectiveness against the opposing force.