Shloka 45

Devanagari script

अद्य निर्धान॑राष्ट्रां च भ्रात्रे दास्यामि मेदिनीम्‌

Transliteration

adya nirdhāna-rāṣṭrāṁ ca bhrātre dāsyāmi medinīm

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Today I shall hand over this earth to my brother, and I shall also make the Dhārtarāṣṭras utterly destitute.” The line conveys a warrior’s vow of decisive victory, framed as both a political transfer of sovereignty and a punitive outcome for the Kaurava side in the moral economy of the war.

Word by Word

• अद्य: today
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य

• निर्धानराष्ट्रान्: the impoverished (destitute) subjects/people of the realm
• निर्धानराष्ट्रान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: निर्धानराष्ट्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• भ्रात्रे: to (my) brother
• भ्रात्रे: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• दास्यामि: I will give
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (दाने)
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मेदिनीम्: the earth (land)
• मेदिनीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेदिनी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• धृतराष्ट्राः / धार्तराष्ट्राः (Dhārtarāṣṭras, i.e., the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• भ्राता (brother, unspecified)
• मेदिनी (the earth/kingdom)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in the Mahābhārata’s war-ethic, sovereignty is treated as a moral trust: victory is imagined not merely as conquest but as rightful transfer of the realm, while wrongdoing is expected to culminate in loss and destitution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a forceful declaration of intent: the speaker vows that on this very day the earth/kingdom will be given to his brother, and that the Dhārtarāṣṭras will be reduced to ruin—signaling an imminent, decisive turn in the battle.