Mahabharata 7.173.44 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 173, Shloka 44

Śiva’s Battlefield Manifestation and Vyāsa’s Śatarudrīya Exposition (शिवप्रादुर्भावः शतरुद्रीयव्याख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

विजित्य समरे योधांस्तावकान्‌ भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

vijitya samare yodhāṁs tāvakān bharatarṣabha

Translation

સંજય બોલ્યો—હે ભરતર્ષભ, રણમાં તારા યોધાઓને જીત્યા પછી પાંડવ—પરવીરહંતા—પોતાના દળને હર્ષિત કરવા લાગ્યો।

Word by Word

• विजित्य: having conquered/defeated
• विजित्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: जि (धातु) उपसर्ग: वि
• Form: क्त्वा (ल्यप्), कर्तरि, अव्ययभाव (absolutive/gerund)

• समरे: in battle
• समरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समर
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• योधान्: warriors
• योधान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: योध
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• तावकान्: your (i.e., your side's)
• तावकान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तावक
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• भरतर्षभ: O bull among the Bharatas (best of the Bharatas)
• भरतर्षभ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत + ऋषभ
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by the vocative bharatarṣabha)
• Kaurava warriors (tāvakāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores the moral weight of victory in a fratricidal war: triumph over one’s own kin and allies is narrated not as mere glory but as a consequential turning point, inviting reflection on power, responsibility, and the costs borne by those who claim ownership of an army (“your warriors”).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra and begins describing an episode in which the opposing side has defeated the Kaurava fighters in battle; the verse functions as a lead-in to the next action or outcome that follows this conquest.