Shloka 76

Devanagari script

हतप्रवीरा विध्वस्ता निकृत्ताश्न शितै: शरै: । जिनके प्रमुख वीर मारे गये थे, वे कौरवसैनिक महारथी शल्यका वध हो जानेपर पैने बाणोंसे क्षत-विक्षत और विध्वस्त हो विजयकी ओरसे निराश हो गये थे

Transliteration

hatapravīrā vidhvastā nikṛttāś ca śitaiḥ śaraiḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: With their foremost heroes slain, the Kaurava troops were shattered and cut down by sharp arrows. After Śalya’s fall, those warriors—wounded, broken, and leaderless—lost hope of victory.

Word by Word

हतप्रवीराःwhose chief heroes were slain

विध्वस्ताःshattered, routed

निकृत्ताःcut down, hewn

अश्नstones (as missiles)

शितैःsharp

शरैःby arrows

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kaurava army

Śalya

arrows (śara)

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

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical and psychological truth that when a cause is weakened by adharma and its principal leaders fall, collective morale collapses quickly; power without righteous grounding cannot sustain hope or cohesion in crisis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that after Śalya is slain, the Kaurava forces—already deprived of their leading heroes—are cut down by sharp arrows and become scattered and devastated, losing confidence in any possibility of victory.