Shloka 346

Devanagari script

पजञ्चविंशतिसाहस्रा: कालमार्छन्‌ पदातय: । बहुतोंके रथ नष्ट हो गये और कितने ही बाणोंकी मारसे अत्यन्त घायल हो गये। इस प्रकार पचीस हजार पैदल सैनिक कालके गालमें चले गये

Transliteration

pañcaviṁśatisāhasrāḥ kālam ārchan padātayaḥ |

Translation

संजय म्हणाला—पंचवीस हजार पायदळ सैनिक काळाच्या मुखी गेले. अनेकांचे रथ नष्ट झाले आणि कित्येक जण बाणांच्या माऱ्याने अत्यंत जखमी झाले; अशा रीतीने ती प्रचंड संख्या मृत्युग्रास झाली.

Word by Word

• पञ्चविंशतिसाहस्राः: twenty-five thousand (in number)
• पञ्चविंशतिसाहस्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चविंशति-साहस्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कालम्: death; Time (as death)
• कालम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आर्च्छन्: reached; went to
• Type: Verb
• Root: ऋ (आ-ऋच्छति)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural

• पदातयः: foot-soldiers; infantrymen
• पदातयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पदाति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kāla (Death/Time)
• padātayaḥ (infantry)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical vision that war, once unleashed, becomes governed by Kāla (Time/Death), consuming masses indiscriminately; it warns of the catastrophic human cost that follows from adharma-driven conflict and unchecked martial fury.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that in the ongoing battle a huge number of infantry—twenty-five thousand—have been killed, with many chariots destroyed and many fighters severely wounded by arrows, conveying the scale and intensity of the slaughter.