Shloka 313

Devanagari script

अश्वैर्निपतितैश्वैव संछन्नाभूद्‌ वसुन्धरा । टूटे-फूटे रथों, जूओं और धुरोंसे, मारे गये महारथियोंसे तथा धराशायी हुए घोड़ोंसे भूमि ढक गयी थी

Transliteration

aśvair nipatitaiś caiva saṃchannābhūd vasundharā |

Translation

Sañjaya said: The earth was completely covered with fallen horses. The battlefield lay blanketed with the wreckage of war—broken chariots, yokes and axles—and with the bodies of slain great chariot-warriors, showing how the violence of battle reduces both men and their proud instruments to ruin.

Word by Word

• अश्वैः: by/with horses
• अश्वैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• निपतितैः: fallen (down)
• निपतितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निपतित
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• संछन्ना: covered/blanketed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संछन्न
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अभूत्: became/was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Aorist (simple past), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• वसुन्धरा: the earth/ground
• वसुन्धरा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसुन्धरा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• vasundharā (the earth/ground)
• aśva (horses)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the devastating cost of adharma-driven conflict: even the might of warriors and the grandeur of war-machines end in collapse, reminding the listener of impermanence and the ethical weight of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, as the eyewitness narrator, describes the battlefield after intense fighting: the ground is strewn and covered with fallen horses and the shattered remains of chariots and combatants.