Shloka 1

अश्वमेधीयस्य हयस्य दक्षिणापश्चिमगमनम् — The Sacrificial Horse’s Southern and Western Circuit

Devanagari script

अपर बक। ] अत काड< चतुरशीतितमो< ध्याय: शकुनिपुत्रकी पराजय वैशम्पायन उवाच शकुनेस्तनयो वीरो गान्धाराणां महारथ: । प्रत्युद्ययौ गुडाकेशं सैन्येन महता वृतः,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! शकुनिका पुत्र गान्धारोंमें सबसे बड़ा वीर और महारथी था। वह विशाल सेनासे घिरकर निद्राविजयी अर्जुनका सामना करनेके लिये चला

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

śakunes tanayo vīro gāndhārāṇāṁ mahārathaḥ |

pratyudyayau guḍākeśaṁ sainyena mahatā vṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: The heroic son of Śakuni, a great chariot-warrior among the Gāndhāras, advanced to confront Arjuna (Guḍākeśa), surrounded by a vast army. The narrative frames the momentum of battle—valor and martial duty driving a challenger forward—while implicitly contrasting outward military strength with the inner mastery suggested by Arjuna’s epithet, “conqueror of sleep.”

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'śakuneḥ tanayaḥ': 'son of Śakuni', 'vīraḥ': 'heroic, brave warrior', 'gāndhārāṇām': 'of the Gāndhāras (people of Gandhāra)', 'mahārathaḥ': 'great chariot-warrior

• an elite fighter', 'pratyudyayau': 'went forth to meet

• advanced to confront', 'guḍākeśam': 'Guḍākeśa (Arjuna)

• ‘conqueror of sleep/drowsiness’', 'sainyena': 'with an army', 'mahatā': 'great, vast', 'vṛtaḥ': 'surrounded, encompassed, attended by'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Śakuni
• Śakuni’s son
• Gāndhāras
• Arjuna
• Guḍākeśa
• army (sainya)