Shloka 40

धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)

Devanagari script

नारायणा हता यत्र गोपाला युद्धदुर्मदा: । म्लेच्छाश्व बहुसाहस्रा: किमन्यद्‌ भागधेयत:,जहाँ नारायण नामवाले रणदुर्मद ग्वाले और कई हजार म्लेच्छ योद्धा मौतके घाट उतार दिये गये, वहाँ भाग्यके सिवा और कया कहा जा सकता है?

Transliteration

nārāyaṇā hatā yatra gopālā yuddha-durmadāḥ | mlecchāśva-bahu-sāhasrāḥ kim anyad bhāgadhayataḥ ||

Translation

Where the battle-maddened cowherds bearing the name Nārāyaṇa were slain, and where many thousands of Mleccha horsemen too were brought down—what else can be said except that it was destiny’s allotment? The speaker frames the outcome as the overpowering force of fate, tempering moral judgment amid the chaos of war.

Word by Word

नारायणाःthe Narayanas (men named/affiliated with Narayana)

हताःslain

यत्रwhere

गोपालाःcowherds

युद्ध-दुर्मदाःarrogant/maddened in battle

म्लेच्छ-अश्वाःMleccha horsemen (foreign cavalry)

बहु-साहस्राःmany thousands (in number)

किम्what?

अन्यत्anything else

भागधेयतःthan fate/lot (from destiny)

Speaker

धघतयाट्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārāyaṇa (as a name borne by a group)

Gopāla (cowherds)

Mleccha horsemen (cavalry)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the dominance of bhāgadhaya—one’s allotted destiny—in the outcomes of war, suggesting that even the fall of formidable fighters can be understood as the working out of fate rather than merely human prowess or blame.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker points to a battlefield scene where a group identified as ‘Nārāyaṇa’ cowherds, fierce in combat, and many thousands of Mleccha cavalry have been killed, and concludes that such a sweeping destruction is best attributed to destiny.