Shloka 103

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

पलायतां दिशस्तेषां स्वानप्युत्सृज्य बान्धवान्‌

Transliteration

palāyatāṁ diśas teṣāṁ svān apy utsṛjya bāndhavān

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。四方へ逃げ散るうち、彼らは自分の者や血縁さえ捨て去った——戦の混乱のただ中で、恐慌が忠義と務めを踏みにじったのである。

Word by Word

• पलायताम्: let (them) flee / may they run away
• पलायताम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: पलाय् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (imperative), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथम, बहुवचनम्

• दिशः: directions
• दिशः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिश् (प्रातिपदिक: दिशा)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्

• तेषाम्: of them / their
• तेषाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (contextual), षष्ठी, बहुवचनम्

• स्वान्: their own (people/kinsmen)
• स्वान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्

• अपि: even, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• उत्सृज्य: having abandoned / leaving behind
• उत्सृज्य: Karana
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत् + सृज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि (active sense)

• बान्धवान्: kinsmen, relatives
• बान्धवान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: बान्धव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• दिशः (the directions/quarters)
• स्वान् (their own people)
• बान्धवान् (kinsmen/relatives)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how fear can eclipse dharma: in moments of terror, people may forsake even their closest bonds. Ethically, it warns that panic erodes loyalty and responsibility, revealing the fragility of social and familial duties under extreme violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a scene of rout and confusion: combatants scatter in every direction, and in their flight they abandon their own companions and relatives. The line underscores the breakdown of order and solidarity during the turmoil of the Sauptika events.