Shloka 12

Devanagari script

पर्यस्तानीव शृुड्राणि ससत्त्वानि महागिरे: । धनंजयशराभ्यस्तै: स्तीर्णा भूर्वरवारणै:

Transliteration

paryastānīva śṛṅgāṇi sasattvāni mahāgireḥ | dhanañjayaśarābhyastaiḥ stīrṇā bhūr varavāraṇaiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Chiến địa trông như thể những đỉnh núi của một dãy núi lớn—vẫn còn mang theo sinh linh—đã bị quăng sụp xuống. Mặt đất rải đầy những voi chiến cao quý, bị mũi tên của Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) bắn trúng và khuất phục, nằm ngổn ngang khắp nơi.

Word by Word

• पर्यस्तानि: overturned, thrown down
• पर्यस्तानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर्यस्त (√अस् + परि-; past passive participle)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• इव: as if, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• शृङ्गाणि: horns, peaks
• शृङ्गाणि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शृङ्ग
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• ससत्त्वानि: with living beings/creatures
• ससत्त्वानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ससत्त्व (स + सत्त्व)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• महागिरेः: of the great mountain
• Type: Noun
• Root: महागिरि (महा + गिरि)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• धनंजय-शर-अभ्यस्तैः: struck/assailed by Arjuna's arrows
• धनंजय-शर-अभ्यस्तैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धनंजयशराभ्यस्त (धनंजय + शर + अभ्यस्त; past passive participle)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• स्तीर्णा: strewn, covered
• स्तीर्णा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्तीर्ण (√स्तॄ; past passive participle)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• भूः: the earth, ground
• भूः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• वर-वारणैः: by excellent elephants
• वर-वारणैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वरवारण (वर + वारण)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• धनंजय / अर्जुन (Dhanañjaya / Arjuna)
• महागिरि (great mountain)
• शर (arrows)
• वरवाराṇ (noble elephants)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a stark simile to highlight the immense cost of war: even the strongest and most majestic beings fall when violence is unleashed. It invites ethical reflection on how martial excellence, though celebrated, also produces widespread suffering and irreversible loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene after Arjuna’s assault: the ground is covered with fallen elephants, struck by Arjuna’s arrows, appearing like mountain-peaks toppled down—an image conveying both scale and devastation.