Shloka 40

Devanagari script

सगण: ससुद्दच्चैव पाप॑ मार्गमनुष्ित: । तवैव दुष्कृतैर्वीरी भीष्मद्रोणी निपातितौ

Transliteration

sagaṇaḥ sasudṛḍhaccaīva pāpaṁ mārgam anuṣṭhitaḥ | tavaiva duṣkṛtair vīra bhīṣmadroṇī nipātitau ||

Translation

«Со своими людьми и с мрачной решимостью ты пошёл путём греха. По твоим же злодеяниям, о витязь, пали Бхишма и Дрона.»

Word by Word

सगणःwith (his) retinue

ससुतःtogether with (his) son

चand

एवindeed/just

पापम्sinful/evil

मार्गम्path/way

अनुष्ठितःhaving practiced/followed

तवof you/your

एवindeed/only

दुष्कृतैःby (your) evil deeds

वीरO hero

भीष्मद्रोणौBhishma and Drona

निपातितौwere caused to fall / were slain

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyudeva

Bhīṣma

Droṇa

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 stresses moral accountability: the downfall of great figures in war is traced to one’s own adharma—wrong choices and harmful actions—rather than to fate alone. It frames consequences as arising from duṣkṛta (evil deeds) and a deliberately chosen pāpa-mārga (sinful course).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses a warrior (vocative vīra), rebuking him for pursuing a sinful path along with his faction. He declares that due to that person’s wrongdoing, the eminent elders/commanders Bhīṣma and Droṇa have been felled in the conflict.