Shloka 493

Devanagari script

एकविंशतिसाहस्रान्‌ पदातीन्‌ समपोथयत्‌ । रथ और घोड़ोंसे रहित उन इकक्‍्कीसों हजार पैदल सैनिकोंको पुरुषप्रवर भीमने गदासे मारकर धराशायी कर दिया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | ekaviṃśatisāhasrān padātīn samapothayat |

Translation

ഭീമൻ ഇരുപത്തൊന്നായിരം പടയാളികളെ ചതച്ച് നിലംപതിപ്പിച്ചു.

Word by Word

• एकविंशतिसाहस्रान्: twenty-one thousands
• एकविंशतिसाहस्रान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकविंशति-साहस्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• पदातीन्: foot-soldiers
• पदातीन्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पदाति
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• समपोथयत्: he crushed/struck down
• समपोथयत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + अपोथय्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīma
• gadā (mace)
• padātayaḥ (infantry)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the relentless force of war and the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action in battle, while implicitly confronting the moral weight of mass slaughter—valor and duty unfolding amid immense human loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Bhīma, wielding his mace, overwhelms and fells twenty-one thousand infantrymen who are described as being without chariots and horses, emphasizing both their vulnerability and Bhīma’s destructive prowess.