Shloka 15

Devanagari script

अक्षौहिण्य: समेतास्तु तव पुत्रस्य भारत । एकादश हता युद्धे ता: प्रभो पाण्डुसृजयै:,प्रभो! भरतवंशी नरेश! आपके पुत्रके पास ग्यारह अक्षौहिणी सेनाएँ थीं; परन्तु युद्धमें पाण्डवों और सूंजयोंने उन सबका विनाश कर डाला

Transliteration

akṣauhiṇyaḥ sametās tu tava putrasya bhārata | ekādaśa hatā yuddhe tāḥ prabho pāṇḍusṛjayaiḥ ||

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ ഭാരതാ! നിന്റെ പുത്രന്റെ പക്കൽ പതിനൊന്ന് അക്ഷൗഹിണീ സൈന്യങ്ങൾ ഒന്നിച്ചുകൂടിയിരുന്നു; എന്നാൽ, പ്രഭോ, യുദ്ധത്തിൽ പാണ്ഡവർ സൃഞ്ജയരോടുകൂടെ അവയെല്ലാം നശിപ്പിച്ചു.

Word by Word

अक्षौहिण्यःarmies (akshauhinis)

समेताःassembled, gathered

तुbut/indeed

तवof you/your

पुत्रस्यof (your) son

भारतO Bharata

एकादशeleven

हताःwere slain/destroyed

युद्धेin battle

ताःthose (armies)

प्रभोO lord

पाण्डुसृजयैःby the Pandusrijayas (Pandavas and allies)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Bhārata, Prabho)

Duryodhana (implied by 'your son')

Pāṇḍavas

Sṛñjayas

Akṣauhiṇī (army unit)

Kurukṣetra war (implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that sheer military magnitude (eleven akṣauhiṇīs) does not guarantee victory; when power is wielded in an unrighteous cause, it becomes vulnerable to collapse. It also points to the devastating, totalizing nature of war—where entire formations can be annihilated—inviting reflection on the ethical cost of ambition and conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana’s side had eleven akṣauhiṇī armies, but in the course of the war the Pāṇḍavas and their Sṛñjaya allies destroyed them. It is a summary statement of the Kaurava forces’ catastrophic losses.