Shloka 40

Devanagari script

पुनर्दशशताश्चान्ये शतसाहस्रिणस्तथा । सोपलैर्बाहुिभिश्क्िन्नै: पेतुरप्राप्पय सात्यकिम्‌

Transliteration

punar daśaśatāś cānye śatasāhasriṇas tathā | sopalair bāhubhiś chinnaiḥ petur aprāpya sātyakim ||

Translation

Sañjaya thưa: Lại nữa, những toán khác—có toán một nghìn, lại có toán đông đến một trăm nghìn—chưa kịp chạm tới Sātyaki đã ngã rạp xuống đất, tay bị chém lìa mà vẫn còn nắm chặt những hòn đá.

Word by Word

• पुनः: again, further
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• दश: ten
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश
• Form: Gender: (agrees with implied plural noun); Case: nominative; Number: plural (in agreement)

• शताः: hundreds
• शताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Gender: neuter; Case: nominative; Number: plural

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

• अन्ये: others
• अन्ये: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: nominative; Number: plural

• शत: hundred
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: शत
• Form: Gender: neuter (as numeral base); Case: (in compound); Number: singular (as first member)

• साहस्रिणः: thousand-fold; numbering in thousands
• साहस्रिणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: साहस्रिन्
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: nominative; Number: plural

• तथा: likewise, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• स: those
• स: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: nominative; Number: plural (used correlatively with following noun)

• उपलैः: with stones, rock-fragments
• उपलैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपल
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: instrumental; Number: plural

• बाहुभिः: with arms
• बाहुभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाहु
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: instrumental; Number: plural

• छिन्नैः: cut off, severed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिन्न
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: instrumental; Number: plural

• पेतुः: fell down
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत्
• Form: Tense: perfect; Person: 3rd; Number: plural

• अप्राप्य: without reaching
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्राप्
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा/ल्यप्): having not reached

• सात्यकिम्: Satyaki
• सात्यकिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun (proper)
• Root: सात्यकि
• Form: Gender: masculine; Case: accusative; Number: singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Sātyaki
• stones (upala)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical irony of war: numerical strength and aggressive intent do not guarantee success, and violence driven by blind fury leads to ruin. It implicitly warns that action without discernment (viveka) and restraint (saṃyama) becomes self-destructive, even when undertaken in a warrior context.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that fresh waves of fighters—some in the thousands and others in vast multitudes—rush toward Sātyaki but are cut down before reaching him. They fall with their arms severed, still gripping stones, indicating a desperate, close-quarters assault that collapses under Sātyaki’s overwhelming resistance.