Shloka 46

शल्यपरिघातः (Śalya Under Encirclement) — Mahābhārata, Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 12

Devanagari script

हत विध्यत गृह्नीत प्रहरध्वं निकृन्तत

Transliteration

hata vidhyata gṛhṇīta praharadhvaṃ nikṛntata

Translation

Sañjaya dijo: «¡Abatid al enemigo; atravesadlo; apresadlo; golpeadlo; despedazadlo!» En el fragor de la batalla, es un grito de arenga que refleja el impulso despiadado de la guerra, donde la ética inmediata es vencer y sobrevivir, no deliberar.

Word by Word

• हत: slay (him)/having slain; the slain (object implied)
• हत: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु) → हत (कृदन्त)
• Form: कृदन्त: क्त-प्रत्यय (past passive participle), प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (नपुंसकलिङ्ग) — आज्ञार्थक-भावे (imperatival usage)

• विध्यत: pierce (you all)!
• विध्यत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यध् (विध्यति)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• गृह्णीत: seize/take (you all)!
• गृह्णीत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह् (गृह्णाति)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• प्रहरध्वम्: strike/attack (you all)!
• प्रहरध्वम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-हृ (प्रहरति)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), आत्मनेपद, मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• निकृन्तत: cut down/hew (you all)!
• निकृन्तत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-कृत् (निकृन्तति)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse conveys the uncompromising urgency of battlefield action: commands to attack, capture, and destroy. Ethically, it highlights how war compresses moral choice into the immediate demands of a kṣatriya-style conflict situation, where decisive action is prized.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, as the war-reporter to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, relays the intensity of the fighting by quoting or summarizing a martial exhortation—rapid-fire imperatives urging the warriors to strike, wound, seize, and cut down opponents.