Shloka 29

Devanagari script

अक्षौहिण्यो महाराज दशाष्टौ च समागता:,“महाराज! उस युद्धमें अठारह अक्षौहिणी सेनाएँ एकत्र हुई थीं; किंतु कौरवपक्षके प्रधान योद्धा भीष्म, द्रोण, कृपाचार्य आदि तथा महामना कर्णने एवं पाण्डवदलके प्रमुख वीर सात्यकि, धृष्टद्युम्न, भीमसेन, अर्जुन, नकुल और सहदेव आदिने अठारह दिनोंमें ही सबका संहार कर डाला”

Transliteration

akṣauhiṇyo mahārāja daśāṣṭau ca samāgatāḥ |

Translation

وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—اے مہاراج! اس جنگ میں اٹھارہ اَکشَوہِنی لشکر جمع ہوئے تھے۔

Word by Word

• अक्षौहिण्यः: armies (akṣauhiṇīs)
• अक्षौहिण्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्षौहिणी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• दश: ten
• Type: Noun
• Root: दश
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अष्टौ: eight
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

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

• समागताः: assembled / came together
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-गम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Past passive participle (क्त)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Mahārāja (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya in the frame narrative)
• Kauravas
• Pāṇḍavas
• Bhīṣma
• Droṇa
• Kṛpācārya
• Karṇa
• Sātyaki
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna
• Bhīmasena
• Arjuna
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• akṣauhiṇī (army division)
• the war (Kurukṣetra war)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the vast scale of the Kurukṣetra war and its rapid devastation, implying the fragility of worldly might and the grave ethical cost when conflict overwhelms dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana reminds the king that eighteen akṣauhiṇīs gathered for the war, and that the principal warriors on both sides—named here—were instrumental in the near-total annihilation within eighteen days.