Shloka 102

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

विप्रणष्टाश्ष॒ तेडन्योन्यं नाजानन्त तथा विभो

Transliteration

vipraṇaṣṭāś ca te ’nyonyaṁ na jānanti tathā vibho

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Those men, thrown into utter confusion, no longer recognize one another, O mighty one.”

Word by Word

• विप्रणष्टाः: lost, bewildered, confounded
• विप्रणष्टाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विप्रणष्ट (वि + प्र + √नश्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अन्योन्यम्: one another
• अन्योन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अजानन्: knew / recognized
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ज्ञा
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural

• तथा: thus, in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• विभो: O mighty one / O lord
• Type: Noun
• Root: विभु
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• vibhu (addressed listener, likely Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

War’s moral collapse culminates in mental and social disintegration: when violence and fear dominate, even basic human recognition and solidarity break down.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that amid the turmoil of the night-time slaughter, the fighters are so bewildered that they cannot identify even their own side and fail to recognize one another.