Mahabharata 9.17.69 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 17, Shloka 69

Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)

Devanagari script

तांस्तथा भज्यमानांस्तु कौरवान्‌ भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

tāṁs tathā bhajyamānāṁs tu kauravān bharatarṣabha

Translation

โอ้ยอดแห่งวงศ์ภารตะ เหล่าเการวะ—ผู้กำลังแตกพ่ายและย่อยยับในศึกเช่นนั้น…

Word by Word

• तान्: them
• तान्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• तथा: thus, in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• भज्यमानान्: being broken/defeated
• भज्यमानान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भज्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural, शानच् (present passive participle), Passive

• तु: but, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• कौरवान्: the Kauravas
• कौरवान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौरव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• भरतर्षभ: O bull among the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरतर्षभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kauravas
• Bharatarṣabha (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores the inevitable collapse of an unrighteous or weakened force in war: when morale, leadership, and dharmic grounding fail, even a great lineage like the Kauravas can be ‘shattered’—a reminder of the ethical stakes and consequences within the dharma-yuddha frame.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava troops are being broken and routed in the ongoing battle, setting up the continuation of the description of their disarray and the unfolding events in Śalya Parva.