Shloka 18

Adhyāya 17 — Gandhārī’s Vilāpa at Duryodhana’s Body (स्त्रीपर्व, अध्याय १७)

Devanagari script

अक्षौहिणीर्महाबाहुर्दश चैकां च केशव । आनयद्‌ यः पुरा संख्ये सो5नयान्निधनं गत:,“केशव! जिस महाबाहु वीरने पहले ग्यारह अक्षौहिणी सेनाओंको जुटा लिया था, वही अपनी अनीतिके कारण युद्धमें मार डाला गया

Transliteration

akṣauhīṇīr mahābāhur daśa caikāṁ ca keśava | ānayat yaḥ purā saṅkhye so 'nayān nidhanaṁ gataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O Keśava, that mighty-armed warrior who once, in the reckoning of war, mustered eleven akṣauhiṇīs of troops—he has now met his destruction because of unrighteous conduct.”

Word by Word

अक्षौहिणीःarmies (akṣauhiṇīs)

महाबाहुःthe mighty-armed (hero)

दशten

चand

एकाम्one (more)

चand

केशवO Keśava

आनयत्brought / assembled

यःwho

पुराformerly / earlier

संख्येin battle

सःhe

अनयात्from unrighteous conduct / misconduct

निधनम्death / destruction

गतःgone (to) / met (with)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

akṣauhiṇī (army unit)

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?

Power and military might—even the ability to muster vast armies—cannot protect one who acts through anaya (unrighteous, unethical means); adharma leads to ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses Kṛṣṇa (Keśava), pointing to a warrior famed for assembling eleven akṣauhiṇīs, and states that he has been slain/ruined because of his unethical conduct—an interpretive moral reflection on the war’s outcome.