Shloka 48

Devanagari script

निवार्य सेनां महतीं हत्वा शूरांश्व पार्थिवान्‌

Transliteration

nivārya senāṃ mahatīṃ hatvā śūrāṃś ca pārthivān

Translation

Sanjaya said: Having checked the vast army and slain heroic kings, he pressed on with the battle’s course—an image of war’s grim momentum, where tactical restraint and lethal force stand side by side, heightening the tension between duty in combat and the cost in lives.

Word by Word

• निवार्य: having restrained / after checking
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-√वृ (वारयति)
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपद-प्रयोगार्थ (क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण)

• सेनाम्: army
• सेनाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेना
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• महतीम्: great, huge
• महतीम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• हत्वा: having slain / after killing
• Type: Verb
• Root: √हन्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपद-प्रयोगार्थ (क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण)

• शूरान्: heroes, brave men
• शूरान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• पार्थिवान्: kings, rulers
• पार्थिवान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• senā (army)
• pārthivāḥ (kings/rulers)
• śūrāḥ (heroic warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line juxtaposes restraint (nivārya) with killing (hatvā), highlighting a central Mahābhārata tension: even when war is undertaken as a duty, ethical weight remains—discipline and strategy do not erase the human cost, and ‘dharma in battle’ is morally complex rather than triumphalist.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield episode in which a warrior (implied from context) first checks a large opposing force and then slays heroic kings—describing both tactical control over the enemy’s advance and the ensuing lethal engagement among rulers and champions.