Mahabharata 9.64.37 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 64, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

नूनं लक्ष्मणमातापि हतपुत्रा हतेश्वरा

Transliteration

nūnaṃ lakṣmaṇamātāpi hataputrā hateśvarā

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—നിശ്ചയം ലക്ഷ്മണന്റെ മാതാവും—പുത്രനെ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടവളും ഭർത്താവിനെ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടവളും—ദുഃഖാഘാതത്തിൽ വീണുപോയിരിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• नूनम्: surely, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नूनम्

• लक्ष्मणमाता: Lakshmana's mother
• लक्ष्मणमाता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लक्ष्मण-मातृ
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अपि: also, even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• हतपुत्रा: whose son is slain (bereft of her son)
• हतपुत्रा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत-पुत्र
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• हतेश्वरा: whose lord/master is slain (widowed)
• हतेश्वरा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत-ईश्वर
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Lakṣmaṇa
• Lakṣmaṇa’s mother

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical cost of war: victory and heroism are shadowed by the suffering of innocents—especially mothers and wives—whose lives are shattered by the deaths of sons and husbands. It implicitly warns that violence multiplies grief far beyond the combatants.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, reflects on the likely fate of Lakṣmaṇa’s mother, describing her as doubly afflicted—her son slain and her husband (lord) slain—suggesting she has succumbed or is overwhelmed by sorrow in the aftermath of battlefield deaths.