Shloka 73

सहस्रशश्न॒ रथिन: पातिता: पतितायुधा:

sahasraśaś ca rathinaḥ pātitāḥ patitāyudhāḥ

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—ஆயிரக்கணக்கான ரத வீரர்கள் வீழ்த்தப்பட்டனர்; ஆயுதங்கள் கைவிட்டு அவர்கள் தரையில் சரிந்தனர்.

सहस्रशःby thousands; in thousands
सहस्रशः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootसहस्र
FormAvyaya (distributive/quantitative adverb)
रथिनःchariot-warriors
रथिनः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootरथिन्
FormMasculine, nominative, plural
पातिताःfelled; caused to fall
पातिताः:
TypeAdjective
Rootपत्
FormPast passive participle (kta), masculine, nominative, plural
पतितायुधाःwhose weapons had fallen; weaponless
पतितायुधाः:
TypeAdjective
Rootपतितायुध
FormMasculine, nominative, plural

संजय उवाच

S
Sañjaya
R
rathinaḥ (chariot-warriors)
Ā
āyudha (weapons)

Educational Q&A

The verse underscores the devastating impartiality of war: even elite chariot-warriors fall in vast numbers, disarmed and helpless, reminding the listener of the fragility of power and the grave moral cost of unchecked martial fury.

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that countless chariot-fighters have been felled in the fighting, lying fallen with their weapons dropped—an image of a battlefield overwhelmed by slaughter and collapse of resistance.