Shloka 416

Devanagari script

प्रायशो विमुखं सर्व नावतिष्ठत भारत । धनुर्धर पाण्डुकुमारकी मार खाकर आपकी वह सारी सेना प्रायः पीठ दिखाकर भाग चली। वहाँ क्षणभरके लिये भी ठहर न सकी

Transliteration

prāyaśo vimukhaṃ sarvaṃ nāvatiṣṭhata bhārata | dhanurdhara-pāṇḍu-kumāra-kī mār khākar āpākī vah sārī senā prāyaḥ pīṭha dikhākar bhāga calī | vahā̃ kṣaṇabhar ke liye bhī ṭhahar na sakī |

Translation

संजय म्हणाला—हे भारत! जवळजवळ सारी सेना विमुख झाली; पांडुपुत्रांच्या धनुर्धरांच्या माराने तुमची फौज बहुतेक पाठी फिरवून पळाली आणि तेथे क्षणभरही टिकू शकली नाही.

Word by Word

प्रायशःmostly, for the most part

विमुखम्turned away; facing away

सर्वाentire, all

नnot

अवतिष्ठतstood; remained

भारतO Bharata

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Bhārata)

Pāṇḍavas (sons of Pāṇḍu)

Kaurava army (your army)

Archers (dhanurdharas)

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 a battlefield ethic central to kṣatriya-dharma: steadiness under pressure. When discipline and morale collapse, even a large force becomes ineffective; courage and cohesion are portrayed as decisive moral and strategic qualities.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava host, struck by the Pāṇḍavas’ archers, largely turns its back and flees, unable to hold position even briefly—signaling a sudden shift in momentum on the field.