Shloka 1

Devanagari script

पम्प बछ। अर: सप्तविशो<्ध्याय: श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनकी बातचीत, अर्जुनद्वारा सत्यकर्मा, सत्येषु तथा पैंतालीस पुत्रों और सेनासहित सुशर्माका वध तथा भीमके द्वारा धृतराष्ट्रपुत्र सुदर्शनका अन्त संजय उवाच दुर्योधनो महाराज सुदर्शश्वापि ते सुत: । हतशेषौ तदा संख्ये वाजिमध्ये व्यवस्थितौ,संजय कहते हैं--महाराज! उस समय आपके पुत्र दुर्योधन और सुदर्शन ये--दो ही बच गये थे। दोनों ही घुड़सवारोंके बीचमें खड़े थे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | duryodhano mahārāja sudarśanaś cāpi te sutaḥ | hataśeṣau tadā saṅkhye vājimadhye vyavasthitau ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, at that time on the battlefield only two of your sons remained—Duryodhana and Sudarśana. Both were positioned amid the cavalry, standing their ground after the slaughter of the rest. The verse underscores the stark moral and human cost of adharma-driven war: power and pride narrow, at last, to mere survival among ruins.

Word by Word

संजयःSanjaya

उवाचsaid

दुर्योधनःDuryodhana

महाराजO great king

सुदर्शनःSudarshana

अपिalso

तेyour

सुतःson

हत-शेषौthe two remaining after the slaughter (survivors)

तदाthen

सङ्ख्येin battle

वाजि-मध्येin the midst of the horsemen

व्यवस्थितौstanding/positioned

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Duryodhana

Sudarśana

cavalry (vāji)

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 highlights the inevitable narrowing of worldly power in a war born of adharma: when righteousness is abandoned, the end often arrives as isolation amid devastation—survival itself becomes the only remainder.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, at this stage of the battle, only two of his sons—Duryodhana and Sudarśana—are left, and they are standing among the cavalry forces.