Mahabharata 7.198.173 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 198, Shloka 173

Devanagari script

नाभिजानन्ति चान्योन्यं कश्मलाभिहतौजस: । दूसरे बहुत-से योद्धा “हा तात! हा पुत्र!” की रट लगाते हुए भयभीत होकर भाग रहे थे। मोहसे बल और उत्साह नष्ट हो जानेके कारण वे ऐसे अचेत हो रहे थे कि एक-दूसरेको पहचान भी नहीं पाते थे

Transliteration

nābhijānanti cānyonyaṁ kaśmalābhihataujasaḥ |

Translation

യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ പറഞ്ഞു—മോഹം അവരുടെ ബലവും ഉത്സാഹവും തകർത്തതിനാൽ അവർ തമ്മിൽ തമ്മിൽ തിരിച്ചറിയാനുമാകാതെ പോയി. ഭീതിയിൽ പല യോദ്ധാക്കളും “ഹാ താതാ! ഹാ പുത്രാ!” എന്നു നിലവിളിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് ഓടിപ്പോയി.

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अभिजानन्ति: recognize/know
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-ज्ञा
• Form: Lat (present indicative), 3rd, plural, Parasmaipada

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

• अन्योन्यम्: each other (mutually)
• अन्योन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्योन्य
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• कश्मल-अभिहत-ओजसः: whose vigor is struck down by delusion
• कश्मल-अभिहत-ओजसः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कश्मलाभिहतौजस्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• warriors (unspecified)
• father
• son

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how kaśmala (bewilderment and moral confusion) can destroy ojas (inner vigor and clarity), reducing people to panic where even basic recognition and relational awareness collapse—an ethical warning about the dehumanizing force of delusion in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira describes the battlefield’s chaos: many combatants, terrified and grief-stricken, flee while crying out for their fathers and sons, and in their stunned state they cannot even recognize one another.