Mahabharata 7.159.16 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 159, Shloka 16

अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः

Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ विनिहते वीरे बाह्लीके पुरुषर्षभ

Transliteration

tasmin vinihate vīre bāhlīke puruṣarṣabha

Translation

సంజయుడు అన్నాడు—ఓ పురుషర్షభా! ఆ వీరుడు బాహ్లీకుడు హతుడైనప్పుడు యుద్ధ గతి మారింది.

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in him/therein (in that situation)
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, singular

• विनिहते: when (he was) slain
• विनिहते: Adhikarana
• Type: Participle (Adjective)
• Root: वि-नि-हन् (हन्)
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, singular

• वीरे: in the hero
• वीरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीर
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• बाह्लीके: in (the) Bāhlīka
• बाह्लीके: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun (Proper name/Patronymic)
• Root: बाह्लीक
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• पुरुषर्षभ: O bull among men (best of men)
• पुरुषर्षभ: Karta
• Type: Noun (Vocative epithet)
• Root: पुरुष + ऋषभ
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bāhlīka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the fall of a prominent warrior—especially an elder—becomes an ethical and emotional turning point in war: death intensifies both grief and the impulse toward retaliation, testing restraint and dharma amid violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bāhlīka, described as a heroic warrior, has been slain; the line sets up the ensuing reactions and developments on the battlefield that follow this death.