Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 52

अध्याय ३: कृपस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति नीत्युपदेशः

Kṛpa’s Counsel to Duryodhana

Devanagari script

स्वल्पं चैव बल॑ तेषां कृष्णा च भृशविक्षतौ

Transliteration

svalpaṃ caiva balaṃ teṣāṃ kṛṣṇā ca bhṛśa-vikṣatau

Translation

กำลังของพวกเขาก็เหลือน้อยนัก และกฤษณา (เทราปที) ก็ได้รับบาดเจ็บสาหัส.

Word by Word

• स्वल्पम्: small, little
• स्वल्पम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वल्प
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• बलम्: strength, force, army
• बलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तेषाम्: of them
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• कृष्णाः: the Krishnas (dark ones / those named Krishna)
• कृष्णाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• भृश-विक्षतौ: the two grievously wounded
• भृश-विक्षतौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भृश + विक्षत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the disproportion between human strength and the devastation of war: even when one’s resources are meagre and one is grievously harmed, the narrative invites reflection on dharma—how violence leaves lasting wounds and how endurance and moral clarity are tested in calamity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that ‘their’ strength has become very small, and that Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) is severely wounded; it is a brief battlefield-status statement emphasizing depletion and injury.