Shloka 70

युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya

Devanagari script

विपताकध्वजच्छत्रा व्यश्वसूतायुधा रणे

Transliteration

vipatākadhvajacchatrā vyaśvasūtāyudhā raṇe

Translation

میدانِ جنگ کے بیچ ان کے جھنڈے، عَلَم اور چھتر ٹوٹ پھوٹ گئے؛ گھوڑے، سارَتھی اور ہتھیار بھی جاتے رہے۔ جنگ گویا غرور اور حفاظت کی اوٹ چھین کر صرف تشدد کے سنگین انجام کو عیاں کر دیتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• विपताकध्वजच्छत्राः: having their banners, standards, and umbrellas (lost/ruined)
• विपताकध्वजच्छत्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विपताक-ध्वज-च्छत्र
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• व्यश्वसूतायुधाः: deprived of horses, charioteers, and weapons
• व्यश्वसूतायुधाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-अश्व-सूत-आयुध
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• रणे: in battle
• रणे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रण
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• banners (dhvaja/patāka)
• parasols (chatra)
• horses (aśva)
• charioteers (sūta)
• weapons (āyudha)
• battlefield (raṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the fragility of worldly power: royal emblems (banners, parasols) and the instruments of might (horses, charioteers, weapons) can be destroyed in an instant, reminding the listener that pride in external supports is unstable amid adharma-driven violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield condition after intense fighting: combatants are left with shattered standards and parasols and are bereft of horses, charioteers, and weapons—signs of severe rout and devastation in the ongoing Kurukṣetra war.