Shloka 65

Devanagari script

यद्‌ बल॑ पाण्डवेयानां वृष्णीनामपि यद्‌ बलम्‌ | क्रियतां सर्वमेवेह निहनिष्पयामि सोमकान्‌,पाण्डवों और वृष्णिवंशियोंके पास जितना भी बल है, वह सब यहीं लगा दो तो भी सोमकोंका संहार कर डालूँगा'

Transliteration

yad balaṃ pāṇḍaveyānāṃ vṛṣṇīnām api yad balam | kriyatāṃ sarvam eveha nihanīṣpayāmi somakān ||

Translation

«Quand bien même toute la force des fils de Pāṇḍu, et même celle des Vṛṣṇis, serait ici déployée tout entière, je détruirai néanmoins les Somakas jusqu’au dernier.»

Word by Word

यत्whatever (amount of)

बलम्strength, force

पाण्डवेयानाम्of the Pandavas’ (party)

वृष्णीनाम्of the Vrishnis

अपिalso, even

यत्whatever (amount of)

बलम्strength, force

क्रियताम्let it be done; do (it)!

सर्वम्all, the whole

एवindeed, just

इहhere

निहनिष्यामिI will slay, I will destroy

सोमकान्the Somakas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍavas

Vṛṣṇis

Somakas

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 how martial pride and overconfidence can intensify conflict: the speaker’s claim of inevitable annihilation shows the ethical danger of arrogance (mada) in war, where the aim shifts from duty-bound combat to total destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Drona Parva battle context, a combatant (reported by Sañjaya) declares that even if the Pāṇḍavas and the Vṛṣṇis combine and deploy all their strength, he will still destroy the Somakas—an assertion meant to intimidate and to signal a decisive, ruthless intent.