Shloka 77

Devanagari script

अन्विच्छन्त: शरीरं तु भारद्वाजस्य पार्थिवा:,नान्वगच्छन्‌ महाराज कबन्धायुतसंकुले । महाराज! हमारे पक्षके राजाओंने द्रोणाचार्यके शरीरको बहुत खोजा, परंतु हजारों लाशोंसे भरे हुए युद्धस्थलमें वे उसे पा न सके

Transliteration

anvicchantāḥ śarīraṃ tu bhāradvājasya pārthivāḥ | nānvagacchan mahārāja kabandhāyuta-saṅkule ||

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಮಹಾರಾಜನೇ! ನಮ್ಮ ಪಕ್ಷದ ರಾಜರು ಭಾರದ್ವಾಜನ ಪುತ್ರ ದ್ರೋಣರ ದೇಹವನ್ನು ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ಹುಡುಕಿದರು; ಆದರೆ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಶಿರೋವಿಹೀನ ಶವಗಳಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿದ ಆ ರಣಭೂಮಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅದನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಕೊಳ್ಳಲಿಲ್ಲ।”

Word by Word

अन्विच्छन्तःseeking, searching

शरीरम्body

तुbut, however

भारद्वाजस्यof Bharadvaja (Drona)

पार्थिवाःkings

नnot

अन्वगच्छन्they found / they came upon

महाराजO great king

कबन्धायुतसंकुलेin (a place) crowded with thousands of corpses

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja')

Droṇācārya (as Bhāradvāja’s son)

Bhāradvāja

kings of the Kaurava side (pārthivāḥ)

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 underscores the brutal anonymity and impermanence produced by war: even a revered teacher like Droṇa can become indistinguishable amid mass slaughter. It implicitly critiques the dehumanizing scale of violence and reminds the listener that worldly status collapses before death.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Droṇa’s fall, the Kaurava-side kings search for his body on the battlefield. The field is so densely strewn with corpses—described as filled with thousands of headless trunks—that they cannot locate him.