Shloka 1486

Devanagari script

पज्चालान्‌ सृञ्जयांश्वैव विनिकृत्तानू सहस्रश: । अश्वत्थामाका प्रिय करनेवाले उन दोनों वीरोंने भी उस समय उससे यह प्रिय समाचार निवेदन किया कि हम दोनोंने भी सहस्रों पांचालों और सूंजयोंके टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर डाले हैं

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | pāñcālān sṛñjayāṃś caiva vinikṛttānū sahasraśaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “(They reported that) thousands of Pāñcālas and Sṛñjayas had been cut down and mutilated into pieces.” In the grim aftermath of the night-raid, this ‘pleasing news’ is framed as a report of success, revealing the moral inversion that war can produce—where slaughter is celebrated as achievement rather than weighed against dharma and human cost.

Word by Word

• पाञ्चालान्: the Panchalas
• पाञ्चालान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाञ्चाल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• सृञ्जयान्: the Sṛñjayas
• सृञ्जयान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सृञ्जय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• विनिकृत्तान्: cut to pieces, hewn down
• विनिकृत्तान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-नि-√कृत्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural, Past passive participle (क्त)

• सहस्रशः: by thousands, in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्रशस्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāñcālas
• Sṛñjayas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the ethics of war can become distorted: mass killing is presented as “pleasing news,” prompting reflection on adharma—especially in the context of the Sauptika night massacre, where victory-reporting eclipses compassion and righteous conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that thousands of Pāñcāla and Sṛñjaya warriors have been cut down. This belongs to the Sauptika Parva’s account of the nocturnal slaughter in the Pāṇḍava camp and its aftermath as conveyed to the Kuru court.