Shloka 373

Devanagari script

हताश्न हन्यमानाक्ष पतिताश्वैव सर्वश: । पैदल वीरोंद्वारा उछल-उछलकर मारे गये और मारे जाते हुए कितने ही हाथी और रथ सवारोंसहित सब ओर पड़े थे

Transliteration

hatāśnā hanyamānākṣāḥ patitāśvaiva sarvaśaḥ | paidalair vīrair dvārā ucchal-ucchalakara māritāḥ māryamāṇāś ca keṣāñcid hastinaḥ rathasvārāḥ sahitāḥ sarvataḥ patitā babhūvuḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Everywhere the battlefield was strewn with ruin—warriors with their eyes dulled in despair as they were struck down, chariots with fallen horses, and many elephants and chariot-fighters collapsing as they were being killed. Foot-soldiers, leaping forward again and again, cut them down at close quarters. The scene exposes the moral inversion of war: even the mighty are reduced to helpless bodies, and courage becomes indistinguishable from slaughter.

Word by Word

• हताश्न: those whose horses were slain (horse-less)
• हताश्न: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत + अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हन्यमानाः: being slain / being struck down
• हन्यमानाः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (√हन्)
• Form: Present, Passive, Present passive participle, Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अक्ष: axle (of a chariot)
• अक्ष: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पतिताश्वाः: those whose horses had fallen
• पतिताश्वाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पतित + अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• इव: like / as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• सर्वशः: on all sides / everywhere
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वशः

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• अश्व (horses)
• रथ (chariots)
• हस्तिन् (war-elephants)
• पैदल (infantry/foot-soldiers)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical and existential cost of war: strength, status, and martial pride collapse into the same vulnerability when violence dominates. It implicitly warns that even ‘heroism’ in battle can become mere destruction, challenging the listener to reflect on dharma amid chaos.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a grim battlefield tableau: horses have fallen, chariots and elephants lie scattered, and foot-soldiers repeatedly leap in to finish off or strike down warriors. The emphasis is on widespread collapse and relentless close-quarters killing.