Shloka 15

शल्यवधे कौरवसेनाभङ्गः, भीमस्य गदायुद्धं, दुर्योधनस्य समाह्वानम्

Rout after Śalya’s fall; Bhīma’s mace engagement; Duryodhana’s rally

Devanagari script

चक्रै्विमथितै: केचित्‌ केचिच्छिन्नैर्महाध्वजै:

Transliteration

cakrair vimathitaiḥ kecit kecic chinnair mahādhvajaiḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: Some were crushed and mangled by the wheels of chariots, while others were cut down amid the great standards—an image of the battlefield’s relentless violence, where pride and display offer no shelter from war’s consequences.

Word by Word

• चक्रैः: with wheels/discs
• चक्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: चक्र
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• विमथितैः: crushed/churned/ground
• विमथितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-मथ्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

• केचित्: some (persons)
• केचित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: क-चित् (केचित्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• केचित्: some (others)
• केचित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: क-चित् (केचित्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• छिन्नैः: cut/broken
• छिन्नैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिद्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

• महाध्वजैः: with great banners/standards
• महाध्वजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाध्वज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• chariot wheels (cakra)
• great banners/standards (mahādhvaja)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the indiscriminate destructiveness of war: status-symbols like great banners and martial grandeur do not shield anyone from suffering. It implicitly warns that violence, once unleashed, overwhelms individual pride and leads to inevitable ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene in Shalya Parva: combatants are being killed in different ways—some trampled and mangled by chariot wheels, others cut down amid the prominent standards—conveying the chaos and heavy casualties of the fighting.