Shloka 38

Devanagari script

गोकुले नित्यसंवृद्धा युद्धे परमकोपना: । ते&पावृत्तकवीराश्व निहता: सव्यसाचिना,जो सदा गोकुलमें पले हैं, युद्धमें अत्यन्त कुपित होकर लड़ते हैं और जिन्होंने कभी युद्धमें पीठ दिखाना नहीं सीखा है, वे गोपाल भी अर्जुनके हाथसे मारे जा चुके हैं

Transliteration

gokule nityasaṁvṛddhā yuddhe paramakopanāḥ | te 'pāvṛttakavīrāśvā nihatāḥ savyasācinā ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Those cowherds, reared continually in the cattle-settlement, fought in the battle with extreme fury. Though they were men who had never learned to turn their backs in war, they too have been slain by Arjuna, the ambidextrous archer.”

Word by Word

गोकुलेin the cowherd-settlement (Gokula)

नित्यसंवृद्धाःalways brought up / constantly reared

युद्धेin battle

परमकोपनाःextremely wrathful

तेthey

अपावृत्तकवीराश्वाःwhose heroes and horses did not turn back (i.e., never-retreating)

निहताःslain

सव्यसाचिनाby Savyasācin (Arjuna)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Arjuna (Savyasācin)

Gokula

Gopāla (cowherds)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim impartiality of war: even those famed for courage and steadfastness—men who do not retreat—can be cut down when confronted by superior skill and destiny. Valor alone does not guarantee survival; the battlefield tests and overturns worldly identities (even ‘cowherds’ become fierce combatants).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the gopālas associated with Gokula, though raised as cowherds and fighting with intense anger and without retreat, have been slain by Arjuna (Savyasācin).