Shloka 19

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यं तौ तथा वाग्भिस्तक्षन्तौ नरपुड़वी

Transliteration

anyonyam tau tathā vāgbhis takṣantau narapuṅgavau

Translation

Sañjaya said: Those two foremost of men, striking at one another with words, continued to wound each other through sharp speech—an exchange of verbal blows that mirrored the violence of the battlefield and revealed how anger can turn even the noble into instruments of harm.

Word by Word

• अन्योन्यम्: mutually, each other
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य
• Form: Avyaya (adverbial use)

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, nominative, dual

• तथा: thus, in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा
• Form: Avyaya

• वाग्भिः: with words/speeches
• वाग्भिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाच्
• Form: Feminine, instrumental, plural

• तक्षन्तौ: striking/hewing (at each other)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तक्ष्
• Form: Present tense (लट्), active (परस्मैपद), nominative dual participial form used predicatively; person/number: 3rd, dual (sense: 'they two are hewing/striking')

• नरपुङ्गवौ: the two best of men
• नरपुङ्गवौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरपुङ्गव
• Form: Masculine, nominative, dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• two foremost men (narapuṅgavau)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical danger of vāg-daṇḍa (harm through speech): words can 'cut' like weapons, and uncontrolled anger can degrade even great persons into mutual injury, making restraint and truthful, measured speech a form of dharma even amid war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two leading warriors engaged in a heated exchange, attacking one another with biting words—portrayed as if they were carving or hacking each other—signaling an escalation of hostility alongside the physical battle.