Shloka 21

Devanagari script

तेन वित्रास्यमानानि तव सैन्यानि भारत

Transliteration

tena vitrāsyamānāni tava sainyāni bhārata

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), because of him, your forces were being thrown into panic.”

Word by Word

• तेन: by him/thereby
• तेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, instrumental, singular

• वित्रास्यमानानि: being terrified/frightened
• वित्रास्यमानानि: Karma
• Type: Verb-derived adjective (participle)
• Root: वित्रासय् (वि+त्रस्, causative)
• Form: present passive participle (शानच्), neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• तव: your
• तव: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, genitive, singular

• सैन्यानि: armies/troops
• सैन्यानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्य
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• भारत: O Bharata
• भारत: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun (proper/vocative epithet)
• Root: भारत
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Bhārata)
• Kaurava army (tava sainyāni)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a recurring ethical reality of war: fear spreads through an army when a powerful opponent breaks its confidence. It implicitly points to the responsibility of leaders to maintain steadiness and to recognize how individual prowess can sway collective morale.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, due to a particular warrior’s action or presence (implied by “tena”), the Kaurava troops were becoming frightened and unsettled on the battlefield.