Shloka 33

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

Devanagari script

ततस्ते योधमुख्याश्च॒ सहसा पर्यवारयन्‌

Transliteration

tataste yodhamukhyāś ca sahasā paryavārayan

Translation

Then those foremost warriors, acting all at once, swiftly surrounded him—an image of coordinated force in the night’s violence, where martial urgency overrides restraint and the press of battle closes in from every side.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात् अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable)

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, nominative, plural

• योधमुख्याः: the foremost warriors
• योधमुख्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योधमुख्य
• Form: Masculine, nominative, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable)

• सहसा: suddenly, swiftly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहसा
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable)

• पर्यवारयन्: surrounded, hemmed in
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि + अव + √वृ (वृञ् वरणे/वारणे)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), parasmaipada, 3rd person, plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• योधमुख्याः (foremost warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in the momentum of war—especially in the Sauptika context—collective martial impulse can rapidly escalate into overwhelming force, raising ethical tension between strategic success and the erosion of restraint (dharma) in combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the leading warriors suddenly move together and surround the targeted figure, tightening the situation into an inescapable encirclement as the night-time conflict intensifies.