Shloka 44

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 95 — Sātyaki’s Breakthrough and the Routing of Allied Contingents

Devanagari script

दार्वातिसारा दरदा: पुण्ड्राश्वेव सहस्रश: । ते न शक्या: सम संख्यातुं व्रात्या:ःशतसहसत्रश:,दार्वातिसार, दरद और पुण्ड्र आदि हजारों लाखों संस्कारशून्य म्लेच्छ वहाँ उपस्थित थे, जिनकी गणना नहीं की जा सकती थी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | dārvātisārā daradāḥ puṇḍrāś caiva sahasraśaḥ | te na śakyāḥ samaṃ saṅkhyātuṃ vrātyāḥ śatasahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Il y avait des milliers et des milliers de Dārvātisāras, de Daradas et de Puṇḍras. Ces hordes immenses—qualifiées de vrātyas, des gens en dehors de l’ordre sacramentel établi—ne pouvaient être dénombrées en entier.

Word by Word

दार्वातिसाराःthe Dārvātisāras (a people/tribe)

दरदाःthe Daradas (a people/tribe)

पुण्ड्राःthe Puṇḍras (a people/tribe)

इवlike/as if

सहस्रशःby thousands; in thousands

तेthey/those

नnot

शक्याःpossible; able (to be done/counted)

समम्fully; evenly; altogether

संख्यातुम्to count; to enumerate

व्रात्याःVrātyas; outcast/uninitiated people

शतसहस्रशःby hundreds of thousands; in hundreds of thousands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dārvātisāras

Daradas

Puṇḍras

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 underscores the overwhelming scale and diversity of forces drawn into the war, including groups portrayed as outside orthodox sacramental norms (vrātya). Ethically, it hints at how conflict absorbs even marginal or frontier communities, magnifying the human and social cost beyond the central dynastic dispute.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a massive gathering of various peoples in the battlefield context. He emphasizes that the numbers of these groups—Dārvātisāras, Daradas, and Puṇḍras—were so great that they could not be properly counted.