Mahabharata 7.99.7 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 99, Shloka 7

अध्याय ९९ — युयुधान-दुःशासन-युद्धम्

Chapter 99: Sātyaki and Duḥśāsana’s engagement

Devanagari script

पुण्डरीकवनानीव विध्वस्तानि समन्ततः । चक्राते द्रोणपाञ्चाल्यौ नृणां शीर्षाण्यनेकश:

Transliteration

puṇḍarīkavanānīva vidhvastāni samantataḥ | cakrāte droṇapāñcālyau nṛṇāṃ śīrṣāṇy anekaśaḥ ||

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า “โทรณะกับเจ้าชายปัญจาล (ธฤษฏทยุมน์) ตัดศีรษะมนุษย์ลงมากมายนัก ศีรษะเหล่านั้นกระจัดกระจายรอบด้าน ประหนึ่งพงบัวถูกทำลายสิ้นทั่วทุกทิศ”

Word by Word

• पुण्डरीकवनानि: lotus-groves
• पुण्डरीकवनानि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्डरीकवन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• इव: like/as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• विध्वस्तानि: destroyed, laid waste
• विध्वस्तानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विध्वस्त
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• समन्ततः: on all sides, all around
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: समन्ततः

• चक्राते: they did/made
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Dual, Parasmaipada

• द्रोणपाञ्चाल्यौ: Drona and the Panchalya (Dhrishtadyumna)
• द्रोणपाञ्चाल्यौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रोणपाञ्चाल्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• नृणाम्: of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• शीर्षाणि: heads
• शीर्षाणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शीर्षन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• अनेकशः: in many ways/many times; in great numbers
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अनेकशः

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Droṇa (Droṇācārya)
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna (Pāñcāla)
• lotus-groves (puṇḍarīkavanāni)
• human heads (śīrṣāṇi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral cost of war: even when warriors act under perceived duty, the outcome is widespread, dehumanizing destruction. The lotus-grove simile intensifies the sense of beauty turned into ruin, prompting reflection on how dharma in warfare is shadowed by suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where Droṇa and Dhṛṣṭadyumna are cutting down many fighters; severed heads lie scattered everywhere, compared to lotus-groves devastated on all sides.