Shloka 24

Devanagari script

तावन्योन्यं महाराज समासाद्य महाहवे । अन्योन्यवेगाभिहतौ निपेततुररिंदमौ

Transliteration

tāv anyonyaṁ mahārāja samāsādya mahāhave | anyonya-vegābhihatāu nipetatur ariṁdamau ||

Translation

ਮਹਾਰਾਜ! ਉਸ ਮਹਾਂਯੁੱਧ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹ ਦੋਵੇਂ ਸ਼ਤ੍ਰੁ-ਦਮਨ ਵੀਰ ਪਰਸਪਰ ਟੱਕਰਾਏ; ਇਕ-ਦੂਜੇ ਦੇ ਵੇਗਵਾਨ ਵਾਰਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਬਹੁਤ ਜ਼ਖ਼ਮੀ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਧਰਤੀ ਉੱਤੇ ਡਿੱਗ ਪਏ।

Word by Word

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• अन्योन्यम्: each other / mutually
• अन्योन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Adverbial (from pronoun)
• Root: अन्योन्य

• महाराज: O great king
• महाराज: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• समासाद्य: having approached / having encountered
• समासाद्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-√सद्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• महाहवे: in the great battle
• महाहवे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाहव
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• अन्योन्यवेगाभिहतौ: struck by each other's force/impetus
• अन्योन्यवेगाभिहतौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्योन्य-वेग-अभिहत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• निपेततुः: fell down
• निपेततुः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-√पत्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Dual, Parasmaipada

• अरिंदमौ: the two enemy-subduers
• अरिंदमौ: Karta
• Type: Noun (epithet)
• Root: अरिंदम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• two unnamed warriors (tāv)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the tragic symmetry of warfare: when opponents of comparable strength collide, the result can be mutual destruction. It implicitly cautions that martial glory often culminates in suffering, even for the ‘enemy-subduing’ heroes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that two warriors met head-on in the thick of the great battle; each was struck by the other’s forceful assault, and both fell to the ground badly wounded.