Shloka 65

Duryodhana’s Śaraṇāgati and the Pāṇḍavas’ Resolve

Gandharva Encounter

Devanagari script

निकृत्तयोधनागाश्चं कृत्तायुधमहारथम्‌

Transliteration

nikṛttayodhanāgāś ca kṛttāyudhamahāratham

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “And there were war-elephants whose warriors had been cut down, and a great chariot-warrior whose weapons had been hewn away.” The line evokes the grim moral atmosphere of battle—power and prowess reduced to helplessness—underscoring the Mahābhārata’s recurring warning about the ruinous cost of violence and the fragility of martial pride.

Word by Word

• निकृत्त: cut down, slain
• निकृत्त: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि√कृत् (कृत्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• योधनागाः: war-elephants (battle-elephants)
• योधनागाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योधनाग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

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

• कृत्त: cut off, severed
• कृत्त: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √कृत् (कृत्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आयुध: weapon
• आयुध: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुध
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• महारथम्: great chariot-warrior
• महारथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• war-elephants (nāgāḥ)
• great chariot-warrior (mahārathaḥ)
• weapons (āyudhāni)