Shloka 70

Devanagari script

पातयन्‌ रथिनो राजन्‌ हयांश्व सहसादिभि: । मुण्डतालवनानीव चकार स रथव्रजान्‌,राजन! रथियोंको गिराकर और सवारोंसहित घोड़ोंको मारकर उन्होंने रथोंके समुदायको मुण्डित ताड़वनके समान कर दिया

Transliteration

pātayan rathino rājan hayāṁś ca sahasādibhiḥ | muṇḍatālavanānīva cakāra sa rathavrajān ||

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—రాజా! రథికులను పడవేసి, సవారులు మరియు సహాయకులతో కూడిన గుర్రాలను వేగంగా సంహరించి, అతడు రథసమూహాన్ని ముండిత తాళవనంలా చేసెను.

Word by Word

पातयन्causing to fall / felling

रथिनःchariot-warriors

राजन्O king

हयान्horses

चand

सहtogether with

सादिभिःwith the riders (etc.)

मुण्डshorn / lopped

तालवनानिpalm-groves

इवlike

चकारmade / rendered

सःhe

रथव्रजान्masses/groups of chariots

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as rājan)

rathinaḥ (chariot-warriors)

haya (horses)

ratha-vraja (mass of chariots)

tālavana (palm-grove, as simile)

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 does not offer a direct moral injunction; it exemplifies the epic’s portrayal of kṣatriya warfare where prowess and tactical destruction are narrated with vivid imagery. Ethically, it underscores the grim cost of conflict—how quickly martial power can strip an army bare, like a grove shorn of its crowns.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a powerful warrior is cutting down chariot-fighters and killing the horses with their riders/attendants, leaving the assembled chariots devastated—compared to a palm-forest that has been lopped and made bare.