Shloka 38

अभिमन्यु-परिवेष्टनम्

Encirclement and Counterassault of Abhimanyu

Devanagari script

निरस्तजिद्दानयनान्‌ निष्कीर्णान्त्रयकृद्घनान्‌ । हतारोहांश्छिन्नघण्टान्‌ क्रव्यादगणमोदकान्‌

Transliteration

nirastajiddānayanān niṣkīrṇāntrayakṛdghanān | hatārohāṁś chinnaghaṇṭān kravyādaganmodakān ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “(On that battlefield) there were warriors whose victory-pride had been cast down, whose eyes were fixed and lifeless; their entrails had spilled out and their bodies were made heavy with gore. Riders lay slain, their bells cut away and silenced, while flesh-eating creatures gathered in delighted swarms.”

Word by Word

• निरस्त: thrown down, cast off
• निरस्त: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्+अस् (धातु) → निरस्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• जिद्दानयनान्: those whose approach/advance is by giving (bribery/boons), i.e., gift-seeking/propitiated by gifts
• जिद्दानयनान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: जित् + दान + अयन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• निष्कीर्ण: spilled out, scattered
• निष्कीर्ण: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निस्+कॄ (धातु) → निष्कीर्ण (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अन्त्रयकृद्घनान्: masses/heaps of intestines and livers
• अन्त्रयकृद्घनान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्त्र + यकृत् + घन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• हत: killed, slain
• हत: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हन् (धातु) → हत (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• आरोहान्: riders (mounted warriors)
• आरोहान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आरोह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• छिन्न: cut off, severed
• छिन्न: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिद् (धातु) → छिन्न (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• घण्टान्: bells
• घण्टान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: घण्टा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• क्रव्यादगण: a troop of flesh-eaters (carnivores/ghouls)
• क्रव्यादगण: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रव्याद + गण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मोदकान्: delights; (lit.) sweets/pleasures
• मोदकान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोदक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• riders (ārohāḥ)
• bells (ghaṇṭāḥ)
• carrion-eaters (kravyādāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the brutal impermanence of martial glory: victory-pride collapses before death, and the battlefield reduces status and achievement to bodily fragility. It functions as an ethical reminder that war, even when framed by kṣatriya-duty, carries horrific consequences that demand sobriety and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a grim scene from the Drona Parva battle: slain riders, severed harness-bells, bodies torn open, and carrion-eaters gathering. The description intensifies the atmosphere of devastation in the ongoing Kurukṣetra conflict.