Shloka 17

Devanagari script

तत्र तत्र हतैश्नापि मनुष्यगजवाजिभि:

Transliteration

tatra tatra hataiś cāpi manuṣya-gaja-vājibhiḥ

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—یہاں وہاں مقتول انسان، ہاتھی اور گھوڑے پڑے تھے؛ لاشوں سے زمین بچھ گئی تھی، گویا ہر سمت جنگی تباہی کی مہر ثبت ہو چکی ہو۔

Word by Word

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र
• Form: Avyaya (locative adverb)

• तत्र: there (here and there)
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र
• Form: Avyaya (locative adverb)

• हतैः: by the slain / with the killed
• हतैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural (PPP of √हन्)

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि
• Form: Avyaya

• मनुष्य-गज-वाजिभिः: by men, elephants, and horses
• मनुष्य-गज-वाजिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य + गज + वाजिन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• men (manuṣyāḥ)
• elephants (gajāḥ)
• horses (vājinaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the indiscriminate cost of war: life is lost across ranks and species alike. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such imagery presses the listener to weigh kṣatriya-duty against the tragic consequences that follow when conflict becomes all-consuming.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene: in many places the field is filled with the dead—humans, elephants, and horses—conveying the scale and chaos of the fighting.