Vana Parva Adhyaya 317 Shloka 4 - Mahabharata | French | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 4

Devanagari script

मम हि भ्रातर इमे सहस्रशतयोधिन: । त॑ योध॑ न प्रपश्यामि येन सर्वे निपातिता:,मेरे ये भाई तो लाखों वीरोंसे युद्ध करनेवाले हैं। ऐसा तो मैंने कोई योद्धा नहीं देखा, जिसने इन सभीको रणभूमिमें गिरा दिया हो

Transliteration

mama hi bhrātara ime sahasraśatayodhinaḥ | tān yodhān na prapaśyāmi yena sarve nipātitāḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira dit : « Mes frères sont des guerriers capables d’affronter des centaines et des milliers au combat. Pourtant, je ne vois pas quel combattant unique aurait pu les abattre tous ensemble sur le champ de bataille. »

Word by Word

ममof me / my

हिindeed / for

भ्रातरःbrothers

इमेthese

सहस्रशतयोधिनःfighters against thousands and hundreds (i.e., capable of battling multitudes)

तान्them

योद्धान्warriors

नnot

प्रपश्यामिI see / I perceive

येनby whom / by which

सर्वेall

निपातिताःfelled / made to fall / slain

Speaker

युधिछ्िर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

brothers (Pāṇḍavas, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tension between reputation and reality: even the mightiest warriors can fall, and a dharmic leader like Yudhiṣṭhira responds by questioning causes and agency rather than rushing to blame—an ethical impulse toward careful inquiry in the face of calamity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the extraordinary prowess of his brothers and expresses disbelief that any single opponent could have brought them all down, indicating shock and uncertainty about how such a defeat could occur.