Shloka 4

Ghaṭotkaca Slays Alāyudha (Night Battle and Māyā Countermeasures) / घटोत्कचेन अलायुधवधः

Devanagari script

मन्त्रितं तव पुत्रस्य ते सर्वमवमेनिरे । येन मन्त्रेण निहता: शतश: क्षत्रियर्षभा:,वे सब लोग आपके पुत्र दुर्योधनकी उस सारी मन्त्रणाका अनादर करने लगे, जिससे सैकड़ों क्षत्रिय-शिरोमणि कालके गालमें चले गये

Transliteration

mantritaṁ tava putrasya te sarvam avamenire | yena mantreṇa nihatāḥ śataśaḥ kṣatriyarṣabhāḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「人々は皆、あなたの御子の策謀のすべてを軽んじるようになりました。まさにその策によって、刹帝利の雄牛のごとき勇士たちが幾百も死の口へと追いやられたからです。」

Word by Word

मन्त्रितम्counsel/plan (what was deliberated)

तवof you/your

पुत्रस्यof (your) son

तेthey

सर्वम्all (of it)

अवमेनिरेthey despised/disregarded

येनby which

मन्त्रेणby the counsel/plan

निहताःslain

शतशःby hundreds; in hundreds

क्षत्रियर्षभाःbulls among kshatriyas; foremost warriors

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Duryodhana

Kshatriya warriors (kṣatriyarṣabhāḥ)

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?

Counsel is judged by its fruits: when a strategy leads to widespread, dishonorable destruction, even allies lose respect for the leader’s deliberation. The verse highlights accountability in leadership and the ethical weight of wartime decisions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that the Kaurava side began to scorn Duryodhana’s overall counsel, because the plan he promoted had already resulted in the deaths of hundreds of eminent Kshatriya warriors, turning opinion against him.