Shloka 45

Devanagari script

अष्टाशीतिसहस्राणि स्नातका गृहमेधिन:

Transliteration

aṣṭāśītisahasrāṇi snātakā gṛhamedhinaḥ

Translation

Duryodhana said: “Eighty-eight thousand householders—men who have completed their Vedic studentship and returned home as disciplined graduates—(are present/are to be counted).”

Word by Word

• अष्टाशीतिसहस्राणि: eighty-eight thousand (in number)
• अष्टाशीतिसहस्राणि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टाशीतिसहस्र
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• स्नातकाः: graduates (Veda-finished students)
• स्नातकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्नातक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गृहमेधिनः: householders
• गृहमेधिनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृहमेधिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights how social respectability (snātakas and gṛhamedhins) and large numbers can be used rhetorically to claim legitimacy; ethically, it invites reflection on the difference between outward markers of dharma (status, ritual completion) and genuine righteousness in intent and action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana is speaking in the Sabha Parva and cites a vast count of disciplined householders—snātakas living the gṛhastha life—as part of a broader argument meant to project strength, support, and prestige.