Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 27
Devanagari script
अष्टपज्चाश तं॑ रात्र्य: शयानस्याद्य मे गता: । शरेषु निशिताग्रेषु यथा वर्षशतं तथा
Transliteration
aṣṭapañcāśataṁ rātryaḥ śayānasya adya me gatāḥ | śareṣu niśitāgreṣu yathā varṣaśataṁ tathā ||
Translation
毗舍波耶那说：“今日我卧于刃锋般锐利的箭床之上，已过五十八夜；然而于我而言，这些日子却如百年般漫长。”
Word by Word
अष्टपञ्चाशत्fifty-eight
अष्टपञ्चाशत्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootअष्टपञ्चाशत्
FormFeminine, Nominative, Plural
रात्र्यःnights/days
रात्र्यः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootरात्रि
FormFeminine, Nominative, Plural
शयानस्यof (me) lying down
शयानस्य:
Adhikarana
TypeAdjective
Rootशय (धातु: शी/शय्)
FormMasculine, Genitive, Singular
अद्यtoday/now
अद्य:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअद्य
मेmy/to me
मे:
Sampradana
TypePronoun
Rootअस्मद्
Form—, Genitive, Singular
गताःhave passed/gone by
गताः:
Karta
TypeVerb
Rootगम्
FormPerfective (past participle), —, Plural
शरेषुon/among arrows
शरेषु:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootशर
FormMasculine, Locative, Plural
निशिताग्रेषुon sharp-pointed (ones)
निशिताग्रेषु:
Adhikarana
TypeAdjective
Rootनिशिताग्र
FormMasculine, Locative, Plural
यथाas/like
यथा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयथा
वर्षशतम्a hundred years
वर्षशतम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootवर्षशत
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
तथाso/thus
तथा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतथा
Speaker
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Characters & Entities
V
VaiśampāyanaA
arrows (śara)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
The verse highlights how physical pain and the consequences of war can stretch subjective time, underscoring the ethical weight of violence and the need for steadfast endurance (dhairya) when one must bear the results of past actions.
A speaker reports that he has been lying on a bed of sharp arrows for fifty-eight nights, and that this period feels unbearably long—like a hundred years—conveying the intensity of his suffering in the aftermath of battle.