Shloka 48
Devanagari script
पृथिव्यां पृथिवीहेतो: पृथिवीपतयो हता:
Transliteration
pṛthivyāṃ pṛthivīhetoḥ pṛthivīpatayo hatāḥ
Translation
इसी पृथ्वी पर, पृथ्वी के ही हेतु, पृथ्वीपति मारे गए हैं।
Word by Word
पृथिव्याम्on the earth
पृथिव्याम्:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootपृथिवी
FormFeminine, Locative, Singular
पृथिवीहेतोःfor the sake of the earth / due to the earth
पृथिवीहेतोः:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootपृथिवी-हेतु
FormMasculine, Genitive, Singular
पृथिवीपतयःkings (lords of the earth)
पृथिवीपतयः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootपृथिवीपति
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
हताःwere slain
हताः:
Karta
TypeVerb
Rootहन्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
Speaker
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Characters & Entities
Ś
Śrī KṛṣṇaP
pṛthivī (the earth)P
pṛthivīpatayaḥ (kings/rulers)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
The verse highlights the ethical futility of violent struggle for possession: kings kill and are killed for territory, revealing how attachment to power and land leads to ruin and how sovereignty is ultimately transient.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa comments on the devastation of the war, pointing out that rulers (pṛthivīpatayaḥ) have fallen because of the desire to control the earth—an observation meant to sober the listener about the real cost and moral irony of the conflict.