Shloka 77

Devanagari script

अन्विच्छन्त: शरीरं तु भारद्वाजस्य पार्थिवा:,नान्वगच्छन्‌ महाराज कबन्धायुतसंकुले । महाराज! हमारे पक्षके राजाओंने द्रोणाचार्यके शरीरको बहुत खोजा, परंतु हजारों लाशोंसे भरे हुए युद्धस्थलमें वे उसे पा न सके

Transliteration

anvicchantāḥ śarīraṃ tu bhāradvājasya pārthivāḥ | nānvagacchan mahārāja kabandhāyuta-saṅkule ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, the rulers on our side searched everywhere for the body of Bhāradvāja’s son (Droṇa). Yet, amid that battlefield choked with thousands of headless corpses, they could not find it.”

Word by Word

• अन्विच्छन्तः: seeking, searching
• अन्विच्छन्तः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु + इष् (इच्छ्) (धातु) → अन्विच्छन्त् (वर्तमान कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• शरीरम्: body
• शरीरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तु: but, however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• भारद्वाजस्य: of Bharadvaja (Drona)
• भारद्वाजस्य: सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारद्वाज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• पार्थिवाः: kings
• पार्थिवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अन्वगच्छन्: they found / they came upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु + गम् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथम, बहुवचन

• महाराज: O great king
• महाराज: सम्बोधन
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• कबन्धायुतसंकुले: in (a place) crowded with thousands of corpses
• कबन्धायुतसंकुले: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कबन्ध + अयुत + संकुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja')
• Droṇācārya (as Bhāradvāja’s son)
• Bhāradvāja
• kings of the Kaurava side (pārthivāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the brutal anonymity and impermanence produced by war: even a revered teacher like Droṇa can become indistinguishable amid mass slaughter. It implicitly critiques the dehumanizing scale of violence and reminds the listener that worldly status collapses before death.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Droṇa’s fall, the Kaurava-side kings search for his body on the battlefield. The field is so densely strewn with corpses—described as filled with thousands of headless trunks—that they cannot locate him.