Shloka 21

Devanagari script

मज्जत्सु चक्रेषु रथान्‌ सत्त्वमास्थाय वाजिन: । कथंचिदवहडउश्रान्ता वेपमाना: शरार्दिता:

Transliteration

majjatsu cakreṣu rathān sattvam āsthāya vājinaḥ | kathaṃcid avahaḍuśrāntā vepamānāḥ śarārditāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Tandis que les roues des chars s’enfonçaient dans la boue, les chevaux—rassemblant leurs forces—parvenaient, tant bien que mal, à tirer les chars en avant, bien qu’épuisés, tremblants et meurtris par les flèches. La scène souligne l’élan funeste de la guerre : même lorsque les corps cèdent et que la peur fait frémir, la machine du combat continue d’avancer par la seule endurance.

Word by Word

मज्जत्सुin (the) sinking (ones)

चक्रेषुin the wheels

रथान्chariots

सत्त्वम्courage; resolve

आस्थायhaving taken up; having resorted to

वाजिनःhorses

कथंचित्somehow; with difficulty

अवहडुःthey dragged/pulled along

उश्रान्ताःutterly exhausted

वेपमानाःtrembling

शरार्दिताःpierced/afflicted by arrows

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

chariots (ratha)

wheels (cakra)

horses/steeds (vājinaḥ)

arrows (śara)

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 harsh ethic of the battlefield: survival and duty-driven momentum often rely on sheer stamina amid pain and fear. It implicitly contrasts heroic resolve with the tragic cost borne even by animals and instruments of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a chaotic battle scene where chariot wheels are sinking, yet the horses, despite exhaustion and arrow-wounds, manage to pull the chariots forward with great difficulty.