Shloka 16

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 125: Duryodhana’s despair and vow after Jayadratha’s fall (जयद्रथवधे दुर्योधनविलापः)

Devanagari script

नागैश्न बहुधा चिलिन्नैर्ध्वजैश्वेव विशाम्पते

Transliteration

nāgaiś ca bahudhā chinnaiḥ dhvajaiś caiva viśāmpate

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「おお、人々の主よ。戦場はあちこちで、斬り裂かれた戦象と、断ち落とされ倒れた旗印とに覆われていた――それは戦いの容赦なき力の徴であり、戦禍の荒廃のただ中で、権勢の外形的な標章が崩れ落ちたことを示していた。」

Word by Word

• नागैः: by/with elephants
• नागैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• बहुधा: in many ways; repeatedly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहुधा

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• छिन्नैः: with cut/broken (ones)
• छिन्नैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिन्न
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• ध्वजैः: with banners/standards
• ध्वजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ध्वज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• इव: as if; like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• विशाम्: of the people/subjects
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• पते: O lord
• Type: Noun
• Root: पति
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• elephants (nāga)
• banners/standards (dhvaja)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the impermanence of worldly power: even royal emblems like banners and mighty war-elephants are reduced to ruin in war, warning that pride in external strength collapses before violence and fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: elephants lie cut down and standards are severed in many places, conveying the intensity of the fighting and the disarray of the armies.