Shloka 56

Devanagari script

वयमेव तदाद्राक्ष्म पड्च मानुषयोनय:

Transliteration

vayameva tadādrākṣma pañca mānuṣayonayaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “We ourselves then beheld five beings born in human form.” The line underscores the immediacy of eyewitness testimony in the war narrative, emphasizing how extraordinary events are framed as directly witnessed rather than merely reported.

Word by Word

• वयम्: we
• वयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• तत्: that (thing/event)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्

• आद्राक्ष्म: we saw
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: लुङ् (अोरिस्ट्), उत्तमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्

• पञ्च: five
• पञ्च: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्च
• Form: —, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्

• मानुषयोनयः: human wombs/births (human origins)
• मानुषयोनयः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानुषयोनि
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the authority of direct perception (pratyakṣa) in epic narration: Sañjaya stresses that what follows is grounded in eyewitness experience, lending ethical and narrative weight to the account amid the confusion of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that he and others “then saw” five figures described as having human birth/form, introducing or confirming a striking sight within the battlefield sequence.