Shloka 333

Devanagari script

रथार्ध केचिदादाय दिशो दश विबशभ्रमु: । कुछ घोड़े रणभूमिमें टूटे पहियोंवाले रथोंको लिये जा रहे थे और कितने ही अश्व आधे ही रथको लेकर दसों दिशाओंमें चक्कर लगाते थे

Transliteration

rathārdhaṁ kecid ādāya diśo daśa vibhramanti sma |

Translation

சில குதிரைகள் போர்க்களத்தில் சக்கரங்கள் உடைந்த தேரங்களை இழுத்துச் சென்றன; இன்னும் சில குதிரைகள் அரைத் தேரத்தை மட்டும் எடுத்துக்கொண்டு பத்து திசைகளிலும் திகைத்து வட்டமிட்டன.

Word by Word

रथार्धम्half of a chariot

केचित्some (people/ones)

आदायhaving taken (up), carrying

दिशःdirections

दशten

विबशभ्रमुःthey wandered/roamed about

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

horses (aśvāḥ)

chariot (ratha)

ten directions (daśa diśaḥ)

battlefield (raṇabhūmi, contextual)

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 underscores the moral and practical collapse that war brings: even noble instruments of warfare—horses and chariots—become broken and purposeless, illustrating the fragility of human plans and the destructive, disordering nature of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield after intense fighting: chariots are damaged, some reduced to halves, and horses drag these remnants while roaming in all directions, conveying confusion, panic, and devastation among the combatants and their equipment.