Shloka 36

Devanagari script

अदहत्‌ पाण्डवीं सेनां रथाश्चवगजसंकुलाम्‌ | मज्जन्तमप्लवे मन्दमुज्जिहीर्ष: सुयोधनम्‌

Transliteration

adahat pāṇḍavīṁ senāṁ rathāś ca vagaja-saṅkulām | majjantaṁ aplave mandam ujjihīrṣaḥ suyodhanam ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Người đã phóng lửa thiêu đốt đạo quân Pāṇḍava—chật kín chiến xa, ngựa và voi—cốt nâng đỡ Suyodhana, kẻ không còn phương kế cứu nguy, đang chìm xuống bất lực trong tai ương. Bài kệ đặt cuộc tàn sát như một hành động che chở tuyệt vọng cho vị thủ lĩnh của mình, đồng thời làm dày thêm bóng tối đạo lý của chiến tranh.

Word by Word

• अदहत्: burned, scorched
• अदहत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दह्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3, Singular, Parasmaipada

• पाण्डवीं: Pandava (belonging to the Pandavas)
• पाण्डवीं: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाण्डवी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सेनाम्: army
• सेनाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेना
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

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

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

• अवगजसंकुलाम्: crowded with horses and elephants
• अवगजसंकुलाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अव-गज-संकुल
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• मज्जन्तम्: sinking
• मज्जन्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: मज्जत्
• Form: Present active participle (Parasmaipada), Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अप्लवे: in (a place) without a boat / without a means of crossing
• अप्लवे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप्लव
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• मन्दम्: slow, feeble
• मन्दम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मन्द
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उज्जिहीर्षः: wishing to lift out / desiring to rescue
• उज्जिहीर्षः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद्-√हृ (जिहीर्षु)
• Form: Desiderative participle (icchārtha), nominative, Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सुयोधनम्: Suyodhana (Duryodhana)
• सुयोधनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुयोधन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍava army
• Suyodhana (Duryodhana)
• chariots
• horses
• elephants

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how loyalty to a leader in crisis can drive extreme violence: the impulse to ‘save’ one’s own side may eclipse broader ethical restraint, revealing the tragic moral cost of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a warrior devastates the Pāṇḍava forces—packed with chariots, horses, and elephants—motivated by the aim of rescuing Suyodhana (Duryodhana), portrayed as helplessly ‘sinking’ without any means of escape.