Shloka 213

Devanagari script

कुलसत्त्ववलोपेता वाजिनो वारणोपमा: । रथोंके पहिये रक्तकी कीचमें डूब जाते थे, तो भी उन रथोंको बाणोंसे पीड़ित हो काँपते हुए और परिश्रमसे थके-माँदे घोड़े किसी प्रकार धैर्य धारण करके ढोते थे। वे सभी घोड़े उत्तम कुल, साहस और बलसे सम्पन्न तथा हाथियोंके समान विशालकाय थे (इसीलिये ऐसा पराक्रम कर पाते थे)

Transliteration

kulasattvabalopetā vājinō vāraṇopamāḥ | rathānāṃ cakrāṇi raktapaṅke nimagnāni santi, tathāpi te bāṇapīḍitāḥ kampamānāḥ pariśramāt klāntāś ca aśvāḥ kathaṃcid dhairyam ālambya tān rathān vahanti | te sarve aśvāḥ uttamakulajāḥ sāhasabalasampannāś ca gajopamā mahākāyāḥ |

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「その馬たちは、名門の血を引き、勇気と力に満ち、象のように巨体であった。戦車の車輪が血の泥に沈み込んでも、なお戦車を引き続けた。矢に苦しめられ、震え、労苦で疲れ果てながらも、どうにか踏みとどまり、決意を保って、その重荷を前へと運んだ。」

Word by Word

कुलof (good) lineage

सत्त्वcourage/strength (as a quality)

वलstrength/power

उपेताःendowed with/possessed of

वाजिनःhorses

वारणof elephants

उपमाःcomparable to/like

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

horses (vājinaḥ)

chariots (rathāḥ)

wheels (cakrāṇi)

arrows (bāṇāḥ)

elephants (vāraṇāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights steadfast endurance (dhairya) amid extreme adversity, while also implicitly exposing the ethical cost of war: suffering extends beyond combatants to animals and the environment, making the battlefield a place of shared pain rather than glory alone.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where chariot wheels sink into a mire of blood; despite being wounded by arrows and exhausted, the massive war-horses continue to pull the chariots through sheer fortitude.