Shloka 373

अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च

Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents

Devanagari script

अगम्यरूपा समरे विशीर्णैरिव पर्वतै: । समरांगणमें टूट-फ़ूटकर गिरे हुए पर्वतोंके समान धराशायी हुए हाथियों और घोड़ोंके कारण वहाँकी भूमिपर चलना-फिरना असम्भव हो गया था

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | agamyārūpā samare viśīrṇair iva parvataiḥ | samara-aṅgaṇe tūṭa-phūṭa-kara gire hue parvatoṃ ke samāna dharāśāyī hue hāthiyoṃ aura ghoṛoṃ ke kāraṇa vahāṃ kī bhūmi par calnā-phiranā asambhava ho gayā thā |

Translation

三阇耶说道：在那场战斗中，战场变得难以通行，仿佛遍地散落着崩裂的群山。因为大象与战马被击碎，成堆倒伏，如同峭岩断崖横陈地面，使得在那里寸步难行——这是战争毁灭的图景：骄矜与权势同样被削成无生命的阻碍。

Word by Word

• अगम्यरूपा: having an impassable form; impassable
• अगम्यरूपा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अगम्य-रूप
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• समरे: in battle
• समरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समर
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• विशीर्णैः: with shattered/crumbled (ones)
• विशीर्णैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विशीर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

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

• पर्वतैः: by/with mountains
• पर्वतैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्वत
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• battlefield (samara-aṅgaṇa)
• mountains (parvata)
• elephants (hastin)
• horses (aśva)
• earth/ground (bhūmi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the devastating, dehumanizing aftermath of war: even mighty forces (elephants, horses) become inert obstacles. It implicitly warns that martial glory is transient and that violence yields widespread ruin, challenging any easy moral justification for slaughter.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has become impossible to traverse because heaps of fallen, broken elephants and horses lie scattered like shattered mountains, blocking movement across the ground.