Shloka 35

Devanagari script

कर्थ॑ भ्रातृन्‌ हतान्‌ श्र॒त्वा भर्तारं च स्‍्वसा मम

Transliteration

kathaṁ bhrātṝn hatān śrutvā bhartāraṁ ca svasā mama

Translation

Sañjaya said: “How did my sister respond when she heard that her brothers had been slain and that her husband too had fallen?”

Word by Word

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्

• भ्रातॄन्: brothers
• भ्रातॄन्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• हतान्: slain
• हतान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• भर्तारम्: husband
• भर्तारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• स्वसा: sister
• स्वसा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वसृ
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• मम: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• my sister (svasā)
• brothers (bhrātṛ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical and emotional weight of war: the same conflict destroys multiple bonds at once—natal family (brothers) and marital family (husband)—inviting reflection on the human cost behind heroic narratives.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya frames a question about a woman’s reaction—his sister—after she hears of the deaths of her brothers and her husband, setting up a description of mourning, response, or subsequent events in the surrounding passage.