Shloka 87

Devanagari script

कोष्ठकीकृत्य चाप्येनं परिक्षिप्य च सर्वश: । शस्त्रैर्ननाविधैर्जष्नुर्युद्धपारं तितीर्षव:,तब विजयाभिलाषी पाण्डवोंने भी तुरंत उसपर धावा कर दिया। पाण्डव युद्धसे पार होना चाहते थे; अतः उनके पैदल, हाथीसवार और घुड़सवार सभी हथियार उठाये आगे बढ़े तथा शकुनिको सब ओरसे घेरकर उसे कोष्ठबद्ध करके नाना प्रकारके शत्त्रोंद्वारा घायल करने लगे

Transliteration

koṣṭhakīkṛtya cāpy enaṃ parikṣipya ca sarvaśaḥ | śastrair nānāvidhair jaghnur yuddhapāraṃ titīrṣavaḥ ||

Translation

Санджая сказал: Загнав его, словно в замкнутое заграждение, и окружив со всех сторон, они поражали его оружием многих видов — воины, решившие переправиться через опасный прилив битвы.

Word by Word

कोष्ठकीकृत्यhaving enclosed / having made into a confined space

चand

अपिalso / even

एनम्him

परिक्षिप्यhaving surrounded / having encircled

चand

सर्वशःon all sides / entirely

शस्त्रैःwith weapons

नाना-विधैःof various kinds

जघ्नुःthey struck / they slew

युद्ध-पारम्the far shore/end of the battle

तितीर्षवःwishing to cross

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

weapons (śastra)

battle/war (yuddha)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a grim ethical reality of war: when victory becomes the primary objective, combat shifts from individual valor to collective overpowering. It implicitly invites reflection on how strategic necessity can eclipse ideals of fair combat, even within a dharma-framed battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that a group of warriors surround a single opponent from all sides, confining him as if in a pen, and then strike him with many kinds of weapons, driven by the urgency to push through and reach the ‘far shore’—the decisive end—of the battle.