Shloka 12

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्नेव महाराज महावीरवरक्षये

Transliteration

tasminneva mahārāja mahāvīravarakṣaye

Translation

മഹാരാജാവേ! അതേ നിമിഷത്തിൽ—മഹാവീരന്മാരിൽ ശ്രേഷ്ഠരുടെ നാശം സംഭവിക്കുമ്പോൾ—

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• महावीरवरक्षये: in the destruction of great heroes
• महावीरवरक्षये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महावीरवरक्षय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Mahārāja (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: even the ‘best of great heroes’ are subject to kṣaya (destruction). It frames war as a realm where valor does not cancel mortality, inviting reflection on the cost of conflict and the fragility of worldly greatness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra and sets the scene: at that very point in the battle, a great slaughter/destruction involving foremost heroes is occurring. The verse functions as a narrative hinge, introducing or intensifying the description of a decisive and devastating moment in the war.