Shloka 4

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

पज्चालैर्निहतौ वीरौ कच्चिन्नास्वपतां क्षितौ | कच्चित्‌ ताभ्यां कृतं कर्म तन्‍्ममाचक्ष्व संजय

Transliteration

pañcālair nihatau vīrau kaccin nāsvapatāṃ kṣitau | kaccit tābhyāṃ kṛtaṃ karma tan mamācakṣva sañjaya ||

Translation

Дхритараштра сказал: «Эти два героя, убитые панчалами, не пали ли они на землю, погрузившись в бесконечный сон? Погибнув на поле брани, достигли ли они “доброго пути”, который Дурьодхана считал высшим? И какое деяние доблести совершили они там? Санджая, поведай мне всё это.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'pañcālaiḥ', 'definition': 'by the Pāñcālas (the Pañcāla warriors)'}, {'term': 'nihatau', 'definition': 'slain, killed'}, {'term': 'vīrau', 'definition': 'two heroes/warriors'}, {'term': 'kaccit', 'definition': 'whether indeed? (interrogative particle expressing anxious inquiry)'}, {'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'asvapatām', 'definition': 'have they slept? (euphemism for death

• ‘fallen asleep’)'}, {'term': 'kṣitau', 'definition': 'on the earth, on the ground'}, {'term': 'tābhyām', 'definition': 'by those two'}, {'term': 'kṛtam', 'definition': 'done, accomplished'}, {'term': 'karma', 'definition': 'deed, act (here: martial exploit/valor)'}, {'term': 'tat', 'definition': 'that'}, {'term': 'mama', 'definition': 'to me, for me'}, {'term': 'ācakṣva', 'definition': 'tell, relate, explain'}, {'term': 'sañjaya', 'definition': 'Sañjaya (the narrator/counsellor)'}]

Speaker

घतयाट्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Sañjaya
• Pāñcālas
• two heroes (vīrau)
• Duryodhana
• earth/ground (kṣiti)
• battlefield (implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in the aftermath of war, ‘good path’ and ‘honor’ can be framed through partisan ideals: Dhṛtarāṣṭra anxiously measures death and worth by whether the fallen achieved valor and the status of a warrior’s end, revealing the ethical tension between genuine dharma and self-justifying notions of glory.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions Sañjaya about two Kaurava heroes reportedly slain by the Pāñcālas—whether they are truly dead, whether their death on the battlefield granted them the warrior’s auspicious end, and whether they performed any notable exploit before falling.