Shloka 14

भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः

Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas

Devanagari script

मुण्डतालवनानीव चकार स रथव्रजान्‌ । निर्मनुष्यान्‌ रथान्‌ राजन्‌ गजाननश्चांश्व संयुगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca

muṇḍatālavanānīva cakāra sa rathavrajān |

nirmanuṣyān rathān rājan gajān aśvāṁś ca saṁyuge ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“大王啊，在鏖战之中，他将密集的战车群打得如同一片被削去树冠的多罗树林——只剩无人的战车；同样在战阵里，象与马也被他击倒。此偈凸显战争阴冷的效率：被称颂为武艺的英勇，终究化作迅疾剥夺战具与参战者生命与自主的手段。”

Word by Word

• मुण्डतालवनानि: groves/forests of palmyra trees with their tops cut off
• मुण्डतालवनानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुण्डतालवन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

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

• चकार: made, rendered
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• रथव्रजान्: masses/troops of chariots
• रथव्रजान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथव्रज
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• निर्मनुष्यान्: devoid of men (driver/warriors)
• निर्मनुष्यान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्मनुष्य
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

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

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

• गजाननः: the one with an elephant-face (Gajānana)
• गजाननः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गजानन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• अश्व: horses
• अश्व: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• संयुगे: in battle
• संयुगे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संयुग
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'rājan')
• ratha (chariots)
• gaja (elephants)
• aśva (horses)
• tāla-vana (palmyra grove, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the stark moral atmosphere of war: martial excellence can rapidly turn living forces into lifeless instruments. It invites reflection on the cost of kṣatriya duty—valor and skill are praised, yet their immediate fruit is destruction and the sudden emptiness (nirmānuṣyatā) of what moments before was full of life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that a particular warrior (identified in the surrounding passage) is cutting down the chariot formations so thoroughly that the battlefield resembles a grove of palmyra trees with their tops lopped off; chariots are left without their riders, and elephants and horses are also struck down amid the fighting.