Shloka 64

Devanagari script

आकर्णपलित: श्यामो ववसाशीतिपञ्चक:

Transliteration

ākarṇapalitaḥ śyāmo vavasāśītipañcakaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “He was dark-complexioned, yet grey-haired up to the ears; and he had lived through eighty-five years.” In the midst of war, this brief portrait underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: age and long experience do not necessarily shield one from the destructive pull of conflict, and even the venerable are drawn into the battlefield’s tragic accounting.

Word by Word

• आकर्णपलितः: grey-haired up to the ears (i.e., with grey hair reaching the ears)
• आकर्णपलितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आकर्णपलित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• श्यामः: dark/black-complexioned
• श्यामः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्याम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ववस: dwelt/lived
• Type: Verb
• Root: वस्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular

• अशीतिपञ्चकः: a group of eighty-five; (one) of eighty-five (years)
• अशीतिपञ्चकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अशीतिपञ्चक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights impermanence and the moral weight of war: even those advanced in years—marked by grey hair and long life—remain subject to the consequences of conflict, reminding the listener that dharma must be weighed carefully against the ruin war brings to all generations.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing a person’s appearance and age in a concise battlefield report—dark in complexion but visibly aged (grey up to the ears), and eighty-five years old—adding a human, biographical detail amid the larger war narration.