Shloka 59

Devanagari script

अयुतं दन्तिनां सार्थ कृपस्थ निजघान सः । पज्चायुतानि चाश्वानां शकुनेर्निजघान ह,तदनन्तर कृपाचार्यकी सेनाके पंद्रह हजार हाथियोंका वध कर डाला; इसी तरह शकुनिके पचास हजार घोड़ोंको भी उन्होंने मार गिराया

Transliteration

ayutaṃ dantināṃ sārthaṃ kṛpastha nijaghāna saḥ | pañcāyutāni cāśvānāṃ śakuner nijaghāna ha ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「クリパの部隊にあって、彼はひとまとまりの一万頭の象を討ち倒した。さらにその後、シャクニの五万の馬をも斬り伏せた。」

Word by Word

अयुतम्ten thousand

दन्तिनाम्of elephants

सार्थम्a troop/host (caravan, company)

कृपःKripa

तत्he

निजघानslew/killed

पञ्चfive

अयुतानिtens of thousands

चand

अश्वानाम्of horses

शकुनेःof Shakuni

निजघानslew/killed

हindeed/forsooth (emphatic particle)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kṛpa (Kṛpācārya)

Śakuni

elephants

horses

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 how war reduces living beings to numbers and tallies of destruction; within the Mahābhārata’s dharma framework, such scenes function as a moral mirror—valor and success are shown alongside the heavy ethical burden and the erosion of restraint in a conflict that claims to be righteous.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield feat: a warrior positioned with Kṛpa’s forces slaughters ten thousand elephants, and then kills fifty thousand horses belonging to Śakuni’s side, emphasizing the scale and ferocity of the fighting.