Shloka 66

Devanagari script

सहस्रशो<श्चांक्ष पुन: स सादी- नष्ट सहस््राणि च पत्तिवीरान्‌

Transliteration

sahasraśo 'śvān kṣipunaḥ sa sādīn naṣṭa-sahasrāṇi ca pattivīrān

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Berkali-kali dia menumbangkan kuda-kuda beribu-ribu ekor bersama para penunggangnya, dan dia juga membinasakan ribuan askar pejalan kaki. Riwayat ini menegaskan skala pembunuhan yang menggerunkan dalam perang—apabila keperkasaan tidak dibatasi belas kasihan, medan tempur berubah menjadi pemandangan pemusnahan besar-besaran.

Word by Word

• सहस्रशः: by thousands, in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्रशस्
• Form: Avyaya (adverb)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: Avyaya (conjunction)

• आक्षिपत्: he struck/overthrew, he hurled down
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-क्षिप्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), Parasmaipada, 3rd person singular

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः
• Form: Avyaya (adverb)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• सादीन्: riders/horsemen (mounted warriors)
• सादीन्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सादिन्
• Form: Masculine, accusative, plural

• नष्ट: destroyed, perished
• Type: Verb
• Root: नश्
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), masculine nominative singular (used predicatively/elliptically)

• सहस्राणि: thousands
• सहस्राणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र
• Form: Neuter, accusative, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: Avyaya (conjunction)

• पत्तिवीरान्: infantry-warriors (foot-soldier heroes)
• पत्तिवीरान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पत्तिवीर
• Form: Masculine, accusative, plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• अश्व (horses)
• सादी (riders/horsemen)
• पत्तिवीर (infantry warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the immense destructiveness of war: martial skill can rapidly annihilate countless lives. Ethically, it invites reflection on how power and valor, when exercised in a context of hatred and rivalry, produce suffering on a massive scale.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warrior’s overwhelming assault on the battlefield: horses and their riders are cut down in thousands, and large numbers of infantry are also destroyed, emphasizing the intensity and imbalance of the combat at that moment.