Shloka 20

द्रोणवध-प्रश्नः

Droṇa’s Fall: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Inquiry

Devanagari script

तथा द्वादश साहस्रा: पञ्चालानां महारथा:

Transliteration

tathā dvādaśa sāhasrāḥ pañcālānāṃ mahārathāḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: Likewise, there were twelve thousand great chariot-warriors among the Pāñcālas—an immense force counted and reported amid the unfolding carnage of war.

Word by Word

• तथा: thus, likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• द्वादश: twelve
• द्वादश: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वादश
• Form: Gender: (agrees with साहस्राः) masculine; Case: nominative; Number: plural

• साहस्राः: thousands
• साहस्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: साहस्र
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: nominative; Number: plural

• पञ्चालानाम्: of the Panchalas
• पञ्चालानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्चाल
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: genitive; Number: plural

• महारथाः: great chariot-warriors
• महारथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: nominative; Number: plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāñcālas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the epic’s sober attention to the scale of violence and responsibility in war: numbers are not mere statistics but a reminder of the vast human cost and the weight of kṣatriya action within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, enumerates the Pāñcāla contingent, stating that twelve thousand of them were mahārathas—elite chariot-fighters—indicating the strength and seriousness of their participation.