Shloka 29

अध्याय ९ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति राजनित्युपदेशः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Royal Policy to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

अक्षौहिण्यो महाराज दशाष्टौ च समागता:

Transliteration

akṣauhiṇyo mahārāja daśāṣṭau ca samāgatāḥ |

Translation

毗湿摩波罗衍那说道：“大王啊，那场战争中，十八支阿叉乌希尼（完整军团）齐集一处。然而仅仅十八日之内，俱卢一方的首要勇士——毗湿摩、德罗那、克利帕等——以及大心的迦尔那，又与般度军中的主要英雄——萨底耶吉、德里什塔丢姆那、毗摩、阿周那、那俱罗与娑诃提婆——一道，使这一切尽归毁灭。”

Word by Word

• अक्षौहिण्यः: armies (akṣauhiṇīs)
• अक्षौहिण्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्षौहिणी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• दश: ten
• Type: Noun
• Root: दश
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अष्टौ: eight
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

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

• समागताः: assembled / came together
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-गम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Past passive participle (क्त)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Mahārāja (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya in the frame narrative)
• Kauravas
• Pāṇḍavas
• Bhīṣma
• Droṇa
• Kṛpācārya
• Karṇa
• Sātyaki
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna
• Bhīmasena
• Arjuna
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• akṣauhiṇī (army division)
• the war (Kurukṣetra war)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the vast scale of the Kurukṣetra war and its rapid devastation, implying the fragility of worldly might and the grave ethical cost when conflict overwhelms dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana reminds the king that eighteen akṣauhiṇīs gathered for the war, and that the principal warriors on both sides—named here—were instrumental in the near-total annihilation within eighteen days.