Mahabharata 9.63.55 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 63, Shloka 55

Duryodhana’s Post-Duel Lament and Instructions (भग्नसक्थस्य विलापः)

Devanagari script

एतच्च कदन कृत्वा शत्रूणामपकारिणाम्‌

Transliteration

etac ca kadanaṃ kṛtvā śatrūṇām apakāriṇām

Translation

ಹಿಂದೆ ಅಪಕಾರ ಮಾಡಿದ ಶತ್ರುಗಳ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಈ ಸಂಹಾರಕ ಕೃತ್ಯವನ್ನು ನೆರವೇರಿಸಿ ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಮುಂದುವರಿದನು—ಯುದ್ಧಧರ್ಮದ ಕ್ರೂರ ತರ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದು ಕರುಣೆಯಿಂದಲ್ಲ; ವೈರವೂ ಗಾಯವೂ ಪ್ರೇರೇಪಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರತೀಕಾರಕರ್ಮ.

Word by Word

• एतत्: this (deed/act)
• एतत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कदनम्: slaughter; destruction
• कदनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कदन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कृत्वा: having done; having made
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral for gerund)

• शत्रूणाम्: of (the) enemies
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत्रु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• अपकारिणाम्: of the harm-doers; of those who do injury
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपकारिन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• enemies (śatravaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights the war-ethic of retaliation: enemies are characterized as 'harm-doers,' and the ensuing destruction is presented as a response to injury. It implicitly raises the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between necessary martial duty and the moral cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, marks that a destructive action—slaughtering or cutting down hostile opponents—has been carried out, and he proceeds from that completed act to the next development in the battle narrative.