Mahabharata 3.174.33 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 174, Shloka 33

Kailāsa-darśana, Badarī-vāsa, and Sarasvatī–Dvaitavana Transition (कैलासदर्शन–बदरीवास–सरस्वतीद्वैतवनगमनम्)

Devanagari script

ततो रथसहस्राणि षष्टिस्तेषाममर्षिणाम्‌ युयुत्सूनां मया सार्थ पर्यवर्तन्त भारत तान्यहं निशितैर्बाणिव्यधरमं गार्ध्रराजितै:

Transliteration

tato rathasahasrāṇi ṣaṣṭis teṣām amarṣiṇām | yuyutsūnāṁ mayā sārthaṁ paryavartanta bhārata || tāny ahaṁ niśitaiḥ bāṇair vyadharaṁ gārdhrarājitaiḥ, bharatanandana ||

Translation

Then, O Bhārata, sixty thousand chariots of those wrath-filled beings, eager to fight, wheeled about and formed up against me. Seeing this, O delight of the Bharatas, I began to wound them all with sharp arrows, splendidly adorned with vulture-feathers—meeting their aggression with disciplined force in battle.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'ratha-sahasrāṇi', 'definition': 'thousands of chariots'}, {'term': 'ṣaṣṭiḥ', 'definition': 'sixty (here implying sixty thousand with ratha-sahasrāṇi)'}, {'term': 'teṣām', 'definition': 'of them'}, {'term': 'amarṣiṇām', 'definition': 'of the intolerant/resentful

• those filled with anger'}, {'term': 'yuyutsūnām', 'definition': 'of those desiring to fight

• eager for battle'}, {'term': 'mayā sārtham', 'definition': 'together with me

• against me (in combat)'}, {'term': 'paryavartanta', 'definition': 'they turned around

• formed up'}, {'term': 'bhārata / bharatanandana', 'definition': 'O Bhārata

• O joy of the Bharata lineage (address to the listener)'}, {'term': 'tāni', 'definition': 'those (chariots/forces)'}, {'term': 'aham', 'definition': 'I'}, {'term': 'niśitaiḥ', 'definition': 'sharp

• whetted'}, {'term': 'bāṇaiḥ', 'definition': 'with arrows'}, {'term': 'vyadharam', 'definition': 'I pierced

• I wounded'}, {'term': 'gārdhra-rājitaiḥ', 'definition': 'adorned with vulture-feathers (arrows fletched with gārdhra-pakṣa)'}]

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Bhārata (addressee)
• Bharatanandana (addressee epithet)
• Chariots (ratha)
• Arrows (bāṇa)
• Vulture-feathers (gārdhra-pakṣa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when confronted by overwhelming, anger-driven aggression, a warrior is expected to respond with steadiness and disciplined action rather than panic or cruelty—using force as required by duty while maintaining control over one’s own anger.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna describes how a vast enemy force—sixty thousand chariots—formed up to fight him. In response, he begins striking them with sharp, vulture-feathered arrows, indicating the start of a fierce engagement.