Shloka 14

भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः

Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas

Devanagari script

मुण्डतालवनानीव चकार स रथव्रजान्‌ । निर्मनुष्यान्‌ रथान्‌ राजन्‌ गजाननश्चांश्व संयुगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca

muṇḍatālavanānīva cakāra sa rathavrajān |

nirmanuṣyān rathān rājan gajān aśvāṁś ca saṁyuge ||

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—اے راجن! اس نے رتھوں کے جھنڈ کو یوں کر دیا گویا کھجوروں کا منڈا ہوا جھنڈ؛ میدانِ جنگ میں اس نے رتھوں کو آدمیوں سے خالی کر دیا، اور ہاتھیوں اور گھوڑوں کو بھی گرا دیا۔

Word by Word

• मुण्डतालवनानि: groves/forests of palmyra trees with their tops cut off
• मुण्डतालवनानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुण्डतालवन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

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

• चकार: made, rendered
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• रथव्रजान्: masses/troops of chariots
• रथव्रजान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथव्रज
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• निर्मनुष्यान्: devoid of men (driver/warriors)
• निर्मनुष्यान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्मनुष्य
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• रथान्: chariots
• रथान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

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

• गजाननः: the one with an elephant-face (Gajānana)
• गजाननः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गजानन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• अश्व: horses
• अश्व: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• संयुगे: in battle
• संयुगे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संयुग
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'rājan')
• ratha (chariots)
• gaja (elephants)
• aśva (horses)
• tāla-vana (palmyra grove, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the stark moral atmosphere of war: martial excellence can rapidly turn living forces into lifeless instruments. It invites reflection on the cost of kṣatriya duty—valor and skill are praised, yet their immediate fruit is destruction and the sudden emptiness (nirmānuṣyatā) of what moments before was full of life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that a particular warrior (identified in the surrounding passage) is cutting down the chariot formations so thoroughly that the battlefield resembles a grove of palmyra trees with their tops lopped off; chariots are left without their riders, and elephants and horses are also struck down amid the fighting.