Shloka 186

Devanagari script

त्रातारं नाध्यगच्छन्त पड़कमग्ना इव द्विपा: । जैसे कीचड़में फँसे हुए हाथियोंको कोई रक्षक नहीं मिलता है, उसी प्रकार समरांगणमें युयुधानकी मार खाते हुए आपके सैनिक कोई रक्षक न पा सके

Transliteration

trātāraṃ nādhyagacchanta paṅkamagnā iva dvipāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Your soldiers, being struck down by Yuyudhāna on the battlefield, could find no protector—just as elephants sunk in mire find no rescuer. The image underscores the moral collapse of support and leadership amid the chaos of war, where courage without refuge turns into helplessness.

Word by Word

त्रातारम्protector, rescuer

नnot

अध्यगच्छन्तthey found/obtained (came upon)

पङ्कम्mud, mire

अग्नाःstuck/immersed (in)

इवlike, as if

द्विपाःelephants

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki)

Kaurava soldiers (your troops)

elephants

mud/mire (paṅka)

battlefield (samarāṅgaṇa, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, the absence of effective protection and leadership turns even a large force into helpless victims; the ethical undertone is that power without refuge, coordination, and righteous support collapses under pressure.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava troops, struck by Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) in the battle, could not find any defender—likened to elephants trapped in mud with no one to pull them out.