Shloka 14

Devanagari script

वीरलोकगति): प्राप्ता युद्धे हुत्वा55त्मनस्तनुम्‌ । यूयं सर्वे सुरसमा येन युद्धे समासिता:,“इन्होंने युद्धमोें अपने शरीरकी आहुति देकर वीरोंकी गति पायी है। जिन्होंने युद्धमें देवतुल्य तेजस्वी तुम समस्त भाइयोंका डटकर सामना किया है, जो पृथ्वीपति दुर्योधन महान्‌ भयके समय भी निर्भय बने रहे, उन्होंने क्षत्रियरधर्मके अनुसार यह स्थान प्राप्त किया है

Transliteration

Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca — vīralokagatiṃ prāptā yuddhe hutvā ātmanas tanum | yūyaṃ sarve surasamā yena yuddhe samāsitāḥ |

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “They have attained the destiny of the heroes, having offered their own bodies as an oblation in battle. For they stood firm in war against all of you—brothers radiant like the gods. Thus, by meeting death in combat without shrinking back, they have reached the station granted by the kṣatriya’s code.”

Word by Word

वीरलोकगतिम्the destination/world of heroes

प्राप्ताःhave attained

युद्धेin battle

हुत्वाhaving offered/sacrificed

आत्मनःof oneself

तनुम्body

यूयम्you (all)

सर्वेall

सुरसमाःequal to the gods

येनby whom/with whom

युद्धेin battle

समासिताःstood together/engaged (in combat)

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

the Pāṇḍava brothers (addressed collectively)

Duryodhana (implied in the accompanying sense)

vīraloka (world of heroes)

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 death in righteous battle as a sacrificial offering: those who do not retreat and meet combat according to kṣatriya-dharma attain the ‘hero’s destiny’ (vīralokagati). It ethically interprets wartime death not as mere loss but as a dharmic culmination when aligned with duty and courage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana explains to the listeners that the warriors who confronted the Pāṇḍavas steadfastly in the great war have reached the heroic realm. The statement justifies their posthumous status by emphasizing their unwavering stand and the kṣatriya code governing battlefield conduct.