Shloka 213

Devanagari script

जीवन्त इव तत्र सम व्यदृश्यन्त भयार्दिता: | बहुत-से रथी घोड़े और सारथिके मारे जानेपर भयसे पीड़ित हो ऐसे निश्रैष्ट हो गये थे कि जीवित होते हुए भी वहाँ मरेके समान दिखायी देते थे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | jīvanta iva tatra sama vyadṛśyanta bhayārditāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Frappés par la peur, ils apparaissaient là comme encore vivants, et pourtant semblables à des morts : tant de guerriers, lorsque leurs cochers et leurs chevaux avaient été tués, demeuraient hébétés, l’âme éteinte. Le vers rappelle ainsi que la terreur et le choc de la guerre peuvent vider l’homme de toute volonté, laissant le corps debout tandis que le courage s’effondre au-dedans.

Word by Word

जीवन्ताःliving

इवas if

तत्रthere

समम्equally, altogether

व्यदृश्यन्तwere seen, appeared

भयार्दिताःafflicted by fear

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

chariots (ratha)

horses (aśva)

charioteers (sārathi)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral-psychological truth that fear can render a person functionally inert: even while alive, one may appear 'dead' in spirit. In the dharma context, it warns that courage and steadiness are essential for those bound to battlefield duty, and that panic can dissolve responsibility and discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where many fighters, after losing their horses and charioteers, become overwhelmed by fear. They stand or remain present but are so shocked and helpless that they look like living corpses—alive in body, defeated in will.