Shloka 15

कर्णपर्व — पञ्चदशोऽध्यायः | Karṇa Parva, Chapter 15: Pāṇḍya’s Advance and Aśvatthāmā’s Counterstroke

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत कर्णपर्वनें अश्वत्थामा और भीमसेनका युद्धविषयक पन्द्रहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,विस्रस्तबन्धुरयुगान्‌ विस्नस्ताक्षप्रमण्डलान्‌ । रथान्‌ विशकलीकुर्वन्‌ महाभ्राणीव मारुत:

Transliteration

visrastabandhurayugān visrastākṣapramāṇḍalān | rathān viśakalīkurvan mahābhrāṇīva mārutaḥ ||

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—جیسے تیز آندھی عظیم درختوں کو چکناچور کر دے، ویسے ہی وہ رتھوں کو ٹکڑے ٹکڑے کر رہا تھا—جن کے جُوئے اور بندھن ڈھیلے پڑ گئے تھے اور جن کے محور اور پہیوں کے حلقے جدا ہو چکے تھے۔

Word by Word

• विस्रस्त: loosened, fallen off
• विस्रस्त: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विस्रस्त (वि+स्रस्, कृदन्त-भूतकृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• बन्धु-रयुगान्: whose yokes/fastenings (of the pole) were loosened
• बन्धु-रयुगान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: बन्धु-रयुग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• विस्नस्त: dislodged, shattered
• विस्नस्त: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विस्नस्त (वि+स्नस्/स्नस्, कृदन्त-भूतकृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अक्ष-प्रमण्डलान्: wheel-circles/rims (i.e., wheels/axle-assemblies)
• अक्ष-प्रमण्डलान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्ष-प्रमण्डल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

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

• विशकलीकुर्वन्: making into pieces, shattering
• विशकलीकुर्वन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: विशकलीकृ (धातु: कृ; causative/denominative formation with शकली)
• Form: Present (participle), Singular, Parasmaipada (active), Masculine, Nominative

• महाभ्राणि-इव: like a great storm-cloud (i.e., as if)
• महाभ्राणि-इव: Karana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: महाभ्राणि (प्रातिपदिक) + इव (अव्यय)
• Form: true

• मारुतः: the wind
• मारुतः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मारुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• chariots (rathāḥ)
• wind (mārutaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how quickly strength and status collapse when order and restraint fail: in war, once control is lost, destruction spreads indiscriminately, reducing even powerful instruments (chariots) to fragments.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a fighter’s overwhelming assault: chariots with loosened harnesses and dislodged yokes, axles, and wheels are being smashed apart, compared to a storm-wind that breaks great trees.