Shloka 13

Karṇa-vadha-pratyaya: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Verification of Karṇa’s Fall (कर्णवध-प्रत्ययः)

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ सैन्यमहावर्ते पातालतलसंनिभे

Transliteration

tasmin sainyamahāvarte pātālatala-sannibhe

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「あの大軍の巨大な渦のただ中—冥暗にして戦慄すべく、まるでパーターラ（地下界）の底のように—戦場は、かき回される深淵となって現れ、数知れぬ命を滅びへと引きずり込んでいた。この句は戦の道義的恐怖を呼び起こす。群れの憤怒と野望が集まるとき、戦場そのものが地獄の渦となり、分別と慈悲を呑み込むのである。」

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, singular

• सैन्य-महा-आवर्ते: in the great whirlpool/maelstrom of the army
• सैन्य-महा-आवर्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्य + महा + आवर्त
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• पाताल-तल-संनिभे: resembling the surface/plane of the netherworld
• पाताल-तल-संनिभे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाताल + तल + संनिभ
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• army (sainya)
• Pātāla (netherworld)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical gravity of war: when armies collide in a frenzy, the scene becomes 'Pātāla-like'—a metaphor warning that unchecked wrath and ambition can turn human action into a hellish vortex where moral clarity is lost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya is describing the battlefield to Dhritarashtra, portraying the massed troops and the chaos of combat as a vast whirlpool, comparable to the dark regions of the netherworld.