Shloka 73
अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
Devanagari script
सहस्रशश्न॒ रथिन: पातिता: पतितायुधा:
Transliteration
sahasraśaś ca rathinaḥ pātitāḥ patitāyudhāḥ
Translation
Sañjaya said: In their thousands, the chariot-warriors were struck down—fallen, with their weapons dropped.
Word by Word
सहस्रशःby thousands; in thousands
सहस्रशः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootसहस्र
FormAvyaya (distributive/quantitative adverb)
रथिनःchariot-warriors
रथिनः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootरथिन्
FormMasculine, nominative, plural
पातिताःfelled; caused to fall
पातिताः:
TypeAdjective
Rootपत्
FormPast passive participle (kta), masculine, nominative, plural
पतितायुधाःwhose weapons had fallen; weaponless
पतितायुधाः:
TypeAdjective
Rootपतितायुध
FormMasculine, nominative, plural
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaR
rathinaḥ (chariot-warriors)Ā
āyudha (weapons)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
The verse underscores the devastating impartiality of war: even elite chariot-warriors fall in vast numbers, disarmed and helpless, reminding the listener of the fragility of power and the grave moral cost of unchecked martial fury.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that countless chariot-fighters have been felled in the fighting, lying fallen with their weapons dropped—an image of a battlefield overwhelmed by slaughter and collapse of resistance.