Shloka 186

Devanagari script

अवसीदन्‌ रथोपस्थे प्राणान्‌ पीडयतीव मे । “मैंने इच्छा न रहते हुए भी उन्हें बाणोंद्वारा अधिक चोट पहुँचायी है। वे रथकी बैठकमें पड़े-पड़े कष्ट पा रहे हैं और मुझे अत्यन्त पीड़ित-सा कर रहे हैं

Transliteration

avasīdan rathopasthe prāṇān pīḍayatīva me |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “He sank down upon the seat of the chariot, as though crushing the very life-breaths within me. Though I did not wish it, I have wounded them all the more with my arrows; now they lie on the chariot-seat in torment, and their suffering seems to pierce me with intense anguish.”

Word by Word

• अवसीदन्: they sank down / collapsed
• अवसीदन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अवसद् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), 3, plural, परस्मैपद

• रथोपस्थे: on the chariot-seat
• रथोपस्थे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथोपस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• प्राणान्: life-breaths / vital airs
• प्राणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• पीडयति: torments / pains
• पीडयति: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: पीड् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), 3, singular, परस्मैपद

• इव: as if / like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• मे: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: —, genitive, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• chariot (ratha)
• chariot-seat (rathopastha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid righteous warfare, the epic foregrounds the moral cost of violence: the sight of an enemy’s suffering can awaken remorse and inner torment, reminding the listener that dharma is not merely victory but also restraint, empathy, and accountability for harm done.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warrior collapsing onto the chariot-seat, overwhelmed; the speaker feels as if his own life-breaths are being crushed, because he has inflicted severe wounds with arrows and now witnesses the victims’ agony, which rebounds as intense personal anguish.