Mahabharata 3.65.9 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 65, Shloka 9

Sudeva Identifies Damayantī in Cedi (सुदेवेन दमयन्ती-परिचयः)

Devanagari script

तेषामापततां वेग: करिणां दुःसहो5भवत्‌ | नगाग्रादिव शीर्णानां शुद्रणां पततां क्षितौ

Transliteration

teṣām āpatatāṁ vegaḥ kariṇāṁ duḥsaho 'bhavat | nagāgrād iva śīrṇānāṁ śikharāṇāṁ patatāṁ kṣitau ||

Translation

તે ધસી આવતાં હાથીઓનો વેગ તે ટોળા માટે અસહ્ય બની ગયો—જાણે પર્વતશિખરો તૂટી ધરતી પર ધડાકાભેર પડ્યા હોય।

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• आपतताम्: of (those) rushing/charging
• आपतताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + पत्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• वेगः: speed, force
• वेगः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• करिणाम्: of elephants
• करिणाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: करिन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• दुःसहः: hard to bear, unbearable
• दुःसहः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुःसह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अभवत्: was, became
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3, Singular

• नगाग्रात्: from a mountain-peak
• नगाग्रात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नगाग्र
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• शीर्णानाम्: of broken/fallen (ones)
• शीर्णानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शीर्ण
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• शिखराणाम्: of peaks/summits
• शिखराणाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिखर
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• पतताम्: of (those) falling
• पतताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• क्षितौ: on the earth/ground
• क्षितौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षिति
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

बृहदश्चव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• बृहदश्व (Bṛhadaśva)
• करिणः (elephants)
• नग/शिखर (mountain peaks)
• क्षितिः (earth/ground)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Uncontrolled power—like a stampede—can become unbearable and destructive; the verse implicitly commends foresight, restraint, and careful judgment when confronting sudden, overwhelming force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bṛhadaśva describes a group facing a terrifying onrush of wild elephants, whose charge is compared to massive mountain-peaks breaking off and crashing to the ground.