Shloka 97

Duryodhana’s Śaraṇāgati and the Pāṇḍavas’ Resolve

Gandharva Encounter

Devanagari script

पतता शिरसा तेन द्वारं षोडशयोजनम्‌ | पर्वताभेन पिहितं तदागम्यं ततो5भवत्‌,उसके पर्वत-सदृश विशाल मस्तकने गिरकर (उत्तर-पूर्व देशके) सोलह योजन लम्बे द्वारको बंद कर दिया। अत: वह देश सर्वसाधारणके लिये अगम्य हो गया

Transliteration

patatā śirasā tena dvāraṃ ṣoḍaśa-yojanam | parvatābhena pihitaṃ tad āgamyaṃ tato 'bhavat ||

Translation

पडणाऱ्या त्या पर्वतासारख्या विशाल मस्तकाने येऊन सोळा योजन लांब द्वार बंद केले. त्यामुळे तो प्रदेश सामान्य जनांसाठी अगम्य झाला.

Word by Word

• पतता: while falling / by falling
• पतता: Karana
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमान कृदन्त, पुं, तृतीया, एकवचन

• शिरसा: with (his) head
• शिरसा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिरस्
• Form: नपुं, तृतीया, एकवचन

• तेन: by him / he
• तेन: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, एकवचन

• द्वारम्: the gate/door
• द्वारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वार
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• षोडशयोजनम्: sixteen-yojana (in extent)
• षोडशयोजनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षोडश-योजन
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• पर्वताभेन: with (something) mountain-like
• पर्वताभेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर्वत-आभ
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, एकवचन

• पिहितम्: was closed/covered
• पिहितम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: पि-धा (धातु) / पिहित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, नपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तत्: that (place/region)
• तत्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• आगम्यम्: accessible / to be reached
• आगम्यम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु) / आगम्य (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: यत्-प्रत्ययान्त (भाव्य/योग्य) कृदन्त, नपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• ततः: thereafter / from that (cause)
• ततः: Apadana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: true

• अभवत्: became / was
• अभवत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथम, एकवचन

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya (speaker)
• dvāra (a gate/entrance)
• ṣoḍaśa-yojana (sixteen-yojana measure)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how immense power or a single decisive event can reshape access and boundaries in the world; it also suggests that extraordinary realms are not meant for casual entry, becoming unreachable when cosmic conditions change.

What is happening in the narrative?

A being falls, and his mountain-like head blocks a colossal gate measuring sixteen yojanas, making the region beyond that gate inaccessible to ordinary people thereafter.