Shloka 26

Devanagari script

तवापराधादस्माभि भ्रातरस्ते निपातिता: । निहता ज्ञातयश्चापि दिएष्ट॑ मन्ये दुरत्ययम्‌,“तुम्हारे अपराधसे ही हमलोगोंने तुम्हारे भाइयोंको मार गिराया और कुटुम्बीजनोंका वध किया है, मैं इसे दैवका दुर्लड्घ्य विधान ही मानता हूँ

Transliteration

tavāparādhād asmābhiḥ bhrātaras te nipātitāḥ | nihatā jñātayaś cāpi daivam etan manye duratyayam ||

Translation

Sanjaya said: “Because of your wrongdoing, we have struck down your brothers, and your kinsmen too have been slain. I regard this as the inexorable ordinance of fate—something not easily overcome.”

Word by Word

तवof you/your

अपराधात्from (the cause of) the offense

अस्माभिःby us

भ्रातरःbrothers

तेyour

निपातिताःwere felled/caused to fall (slain)

निहताःwere slain

ज्ञातयःkinsmen/relatives

चand

अपिalso/even

दैवेष्टम्ordained by fate (divinely willed)

मन्येI think/consider

दुरत्ययम्hard to overcome/inevitable

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

you (addressed person, likely Dhṛtarāṣṭra in Sañjaya’s narration)

brothers (bhrātaraḥ)

kinsmen/relatives (jñātayaḥ)

daiva (fate/divine ordinance)

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 frames catastrophic loss as arising from moral fault (aparādha) while also acknowledging the overpowering force of destiny (daiva). Ethically, it stresses accountability for wrongdoing, yet recognizes that once adharma sets events in motion, outcomes can become difficult to avert.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports the devastation of the war to the listener, attributing the deaths of the listener’s brothers and relatives to the listener’s own culpable choices, and characterizes the resulting destruction as an inexorable working of fate.