Shloka 273

धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा—व्यासोपदेशः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Collapse and Vyāsa’s Counsel

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यं घातयिष्यन्ति दृढै: शस्त्रै: प्रहारिण: । “उसके लिये सारे भूपाल कुरुक्षेत्रमें एकत्र होंगे और सुदृढ़ शस्त्रोंद्वारा परस्पर प्रहार करके एक-दूसरेका वध कर डालेंगे

Transliteration

anyonyam ghātayiṣyanti dṛḍhaiḥ śastraiḥ prahāriṇaḥ |

Translation

Vyāsa declares that the warriors, striking hard with firm weapons, will turn upon one another and bring about each other’s death—an ominous foretelling of war’s self-consuming violence and the moral collapse that follows when hostility overrides restraint.

Word by Word

• अन्योन्यम्: mutually, one another
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य
• Form: Adverbial accusative (avyayībhāva-like usage), singular form used adverbially

• घातयिष्यन्ति: they will cause to be slain / will kill
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (घातयति caus.)
• Form: Lṛṭ (simple future), parasmaipada, 3rd person plural

• दृढैः: with firm/strong
• दृढैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृढ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, instrumental case, plural

• शस्त्रैः: with weapons
• शस्त्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शस्त्र
• Form: Neuter, instrumental case, plural

• प्रहारिणः: strikers, assailants
• प्रहारिणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रहारिन्
• Form: Masculine, nominative case, plural

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• weapons (śastra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Unchecked enmity and the pursuit of victory through violence become self-destructive: when dharma is eclipsed by rage and rivalry, combatants end up annihilating one another, illustrating the karmic and ethical cost of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa speaks a grim prediction: the fighters will strike each other with powerful weapons and mutually kill one another, foreshadowing the catastrophic mutual destruction associated with the Kurukṣetra conflict.