Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 663

शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host

with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter

Devanagari script

रणे5हन्यत पुत्रैस्ते शतशशो5थ सहस््रशः । राजन! महारथी पाण्डुपुत्र कौरव-सेनाका वध करने लगे। इसी प्रकार आपके पुत्र भी पाण्डव-सेनाके सैकड़ों

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

raṇe 'hanyata putrais te śataśaśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ |

rājan mahārathī pāṇḍuputraḥ kaurava-senāyā vadhaṃ kartum ārabdhavān |

tathā tava putrā api pāṇḍava-senāyāḥ śatān sahasrāṇi ca vīrāṇāṃ samaraṅgaṇe sarvataḥ svabāṇaiḥ saṃjahruḥ ||

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า—ในสนามรบ บุตรของพระองค์สังหารนักรบเป็นร้อย แล้วเป็นพัน ๆ โอ้พระราชา มหารถีผู้เป็นโอรสแห่งปาณฑุเริ่มก่อมหาวินาศในกองทัพเการพ ฉันใด บุตรของพระองค์ก็ฉันนั้น ในสมรภูมิทุกทิศด้วยศรของตนได้ทำลายวีรชนแห่งกองทัพปาณฑพเป็นร้อยเป็นพัน

Word by Word

• raṇe: in battle
• raṇe: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: raṇa
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• ahanyat: slew/struck down
• Type: Verb
• Root: han
• Form: imperfect (laṅ), 3rd, singular, parasmaipada

• putraiḥ: by (his/your) sons
• putraiḥ: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra
• Form: masculine, instrumental, plural

• te: of you/your
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: tvad
• Form: masculine, genitive, singular

• śataśaḥ: by hundreds
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: śataśas

• atha: and/then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha

• sahasraśaḥ: by thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sahasraśas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'rājan')
• Kauravas (your sons)
• Pāṇḍuputra (a Pāṇḍava)
• Kaurava army
• Pāṇḍava army
• arrows (bāṇa)
• battlefield (raṇa/samaraṅgaṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim symmetry of war: both sides, driven by martial duty and rivalry, inflict mass destruction. It implicitly highlights the ethical cost of unchecked vengeance and the way battlefield prowess can eclipse compassion and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting has intensified: a Pāṇḍava great warrior is slaughtering the Kaurava forces, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons respond in kind, killing large numbers of Pāṇḍava warriors with volleys of arrows across the battlefield.