Shloka 43

Devanagari script

तथैव रथिनां श्रेष्ठ: क्षेमधूर्तिविशाम्पते । निहतो गदया राजन्‌ भीमसेनेन संयुगे,प्रजानाथ! नरेश्वर! इसी प्रकार रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ क्षेमधूर्तिको भी युद्धस्थलमें भीमसेनने अपनी गदासे मार डाला

Transliteration

tathaiva rathināṁ śreṣṭhaḥ kṣemadhūrtir viśāmpate | nihato gadayā rājan bhīmasenena saṁyuge prajānātha nareśvara ||

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—اے رعایا کے نگہبان، اے نریشور! اسی طرح رتھیوں میں برتر کْشیم دھورتی بھی میدانِ جنگ میں بھیم سین کی گدا سے مارا گیا۔

Word by Word

तथाthus, in the same way

एवindeed, just

रथिनाम्of chariot-warriors

श्रेष्ठःthe best

क्षेमधूर्तिःKṣemadhūrti (proper name)

विशाम्of the people, of the clans

पतेO lord

निहतःslain, killed

गदयाwith a mace

राजन्O king

भीमसेनेनby Bhīmasena

संयुगेin battle

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Bhīmasena

Kṣemadhūrti

gadā (mace)

saṁyuga (battlefield)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the harsh impartiality of battle: even a renowned rathin (chariot-warrior) can fall in an instant. It reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical tension—kṣatriya duty drives warriors into combat, yet the outcome remains governed by mortality and the inexorable consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Kṣemadhūrti, described as a foremost chariot-warrior, has been slain on the battlefield by Bhīmasena using a mace, continuing the sequence of battlefield deaths being recounted.