Shloka 173

अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च

Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter

Devanagari script

मृत्योरुपान्तिकं प्राप्तौ माद्रीपुत्रौ सम मेनिरे । आपके पुत्रका वह पराक्रम देखकर सब महारथी ऐसा मानने लगे कि माद्रीके दोनों पुत्र मृत्युके निकट पहुँच गये

Transliteration

mṛtyor upāntikaṃ prāptau mādrīputrau sama menire |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Seeing the prowess displayed by your son, all the great chariot-warriors concluded that the two sons of Mādrī had been brought to the very brink of death.

Word by Word

• मृत्योः: of death / from death (as point of reference)
• मृत्योः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• उपान्तिकम्: nearness, vicinity
• उपान्तिकम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपान्तिक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• प्राप्तौ: having reached / having come (to)
• प्राप्तौ: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्राप्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• माद्रीपुत्रौ: the two sons of Madri (Nakula and Sahadeva)
• माद्रीपुत्रौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: माद्रीपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• सम्: together; completely; indeed (intensifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्

• मेनिरे: they thought; they considered
• Type: Verb
• Root: मन्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Plural, Ātmanepada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• your son (Duryodhana, as addressed to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in context)
• Mādrī
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• mahārathas (great chariot-warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral tension of battlefield glory: extraordinary prowess can be admired, yet its immediate measure is the capacity to drive others toward death. It invites reflection on how kṣatriya valor operates within dharma while still producing grave human cost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, after witnessing the might of the king’s son, the assembled elite warriors judged that Mādrī’s two sons—Nakula and Sahadeva—were pushed to the brink of death.