Shloka 25

Devanagari script

हतारोहा गजा राजन्‌ हयाश्व हतसादिन:

Transliteration

hatarohā gajā rājan hayāśva hatasādinaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, elephants have been left riderless, and horses too—those who once bore their riders are now bereft of them.”

Word by Word

• हतारोहाः: those whose riders are slain (riderless)
• हतारोहाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हतारोह (हत + आरोह)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गजाः: elephants
• गजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राजन्: O king
• राजन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• हयाश्वाः: horses (haya and aśva)
• हयाश्वाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हयाश्व (हय + अश्व)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हतसादिनः: those whose riders are slain
• हतसादिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हतसादिन् (हत + सादिन्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• elephants
• horses
• riders (mounted warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark impermanence and moral cost of war: even mighty war-assets like elephants and horses become symbols of loss when their riders fall, reminding the listener that power and prowess collapse quickly under violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene at Kurukṣetra: many mounted warriors have been killed, leaving elephants and horses without riders, conveying the scale of casualties and the chaos of combat.