Mahabharata 7.189.213 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 189, Shloka 213

Devanagari script

कुलसत्त्ववलोपेता वाजिनो वारणोपमा: । रथोंके पहिये रक्तकी कीचमें डूब जाते थे

Transliteration

kulasattvabalopetā vājinō vāraṇopamāḥ | rathānāṃ cakrāṇi raktapaṅke nimagnāni santi, tathāpi te bāṇapīḍitāḥ kampamānāḥ pariśramāt klāntāś ca aśvāḥ kathaṃcid dhairyam ālambya tān rathān vahanti | te sarve aśvāḥ uttamakulajāḥ sāhasabalasampannāś ca gajopamā mahākāyāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Kuda-kuda itu—berketurunan mulia, penuh keberanian dan kekuatan, besar seperti gajah—tetap menarik kereta perang walaupun roda-roda tenggelam dalam lumpur darah. Disiksa oleh anak panah, menggigil dan letih kerana kerja berat, mereka tetap juga bertahan, meneguhkan hati, lalu memikul beban itu ke hadapan.

Word by Word

• कुल: of (good) lineage
• कुल: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• सत्त्व: courage/strength (as a quality)
• सत्त्व: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्त्व
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• वल: strength/power
• वल: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• उपेताः: endowed with/possessed of
• उपेताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उप-इ (उपेत)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वाजिनः: horses
• वाजिनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाजिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वारण: of elephants
• वारण: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• उपमाः: comparable to/like
• उपमाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपमा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• horses (vājinaḥ)
• chariots (rathāḥ)
• wheels (cakrāṇi)
• arrows (bāṇāḥ)
• elephants (vāraṇāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights steadfast endurance (dhairya) amid extreme adversity, while also implicitly exposing the ethical cost of war: suffering extends beyond combatants to animals and the environment, making the battlefield a place of shared pain rather than glory alone.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where chariot wheels sink into a mire of blood; despite being wounded by arrows and exhausted, the massive war-horses continue to pull the chariots through sheer fortitude.