Shloka 36

Devanagari script

वार्यमाणस्तु पार्थेन तथा मध्ये महात्मनाम्‌

Transliteration

vāryamāṇas tu pārthena tathā madhye mahātmanām

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—वार्यमाणस्तु पार्थेन तथा मध्ये महात्मनाम्।

Word by Word

• वार्यमाणः: being restrained/checked
• वार्यमाणः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वारय् (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, शानच् (लट्-कर्तरि), Passive/कर्मणि (present passive participle sense)

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• पार्थेन: by Partha (Arjuna)
• पार्थेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• तथा: thus/so
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• मध्ये: in the midst
• मध्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• महात्मनाम्: of the great-souled (heroes)
• महात्मनाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pārtha (Arjuna)
• mahātmānaḥ (great-souled warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid war, the poem highlights the ethical tension between unchecked aggression and the duty to restrain harm. The act of ‘restraining’ (vāraṇa) suggests that valor is not merely striking, but also knowing when and how force should be limited.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield moment in which Arjuna attempts to check or hold back an opponent, yet that figure remains positioned among the foremost warriors, indicating a continuing, high-stakes confrontation in the thick of combat.