Shloka 53

Devanagari script

कथं बाले महेष्वासा नृशंसा मर्मभेदिन:

Transliteration

kathaṃ bāle maheṣvāsā nṛśaṃsā marmabhedinaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: “How could those great archers—so pitiless, striking at vital points—act thus against a mere child?”

Word by Word

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्
• Form: Avyaya (interrogative adverb)

• बाले: O girl / O young one
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाल
• Form: Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• महेष्वासाः: great bowmen
• महेष्वासाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महेष्वास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नृशंसाः: cruel, ruthless
• नृशंसाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नृशंस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मर्मभेदिनः: piercing vital spots
• मर्मभेदिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मर्मभेदिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights a dharmic critique of warfare: even in battle, attacking the vulnerable—here framed as ‘a child’—and doing so with ruthless precision (marmabhedin) is morally shocking and blameworthy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reacts with indignation and disbelief, describing certain mighty archers as cruel and ‘vital-point piercers,’ and questions how they could direct such violence toward someone characterized as a child, underscoring the ethical tension within the battlefield events.