Shloka 39

द्रोणकर्णयोः निशि संप्रहारः — Night Engagement with Droṇa and Karṇa

Devanagari script

हतभूयिष्ठयोधं तत्‌ कृत्वा तव बल॑ बली

Transliteration

hatabhūyiṣṭhayodhaṃ tat kṛtvā tava balaṃ balī

Translation

ສັນຊະຍະກ່າວວ່າ: «ເມື່ອລາວໄດ້ທຳໃຫ້ກອງທັບຂອງທ່ານເຫຼືອແຕ່ກຳລັງທີ່ນັກຮົບສ່ວນໃຫຍ່ຖືກສັງຫານແລ້ວ, ຜູ້ກ້າແຂງນັ້ນກໍໄດ້ນຳພາໃຫ້ກອງທັບຂອງທ່ານເຖິງສະພາບນີ້—ຜົນທີ່ໜັກດ້ວຍນ້ຳໜັກແຫ່ງທຳມະຂອງຄວາມພິນາດໃນສົງຄາມ»។

Word by Word

हतभूयिष्ठयोधम्the army/host whose warriors were mostly slain

तत्that

कृत्वाhaving made/done

तवof you/your

बलम्army/strength

बलीthe strong one; mighty (man)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'tava')

Kaurava army (tava balam)

a mighty warrior (balī; unspecified in this fragment)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when framed as heroic might (balī), the verse foregrounds the grim ethical reality of war: power is measured here by the capacity to annihilate, and the narrative invites reflection on the cost—an army reduced because most warriors are slain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a powerful combatant has caused the Kaurava host to become an army with most of its warriors killed—indicating a severe reversal and near-ruin of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s forces.