Shloka 13

Karṇa-vadha-pratyaya: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Verification of Karṇa’s Fall (कर्णवध-प्रत्ययः)

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ सैन्यमहावर्ते पातालतलसंनिभे

Transliteration

tasmin sainyamahāvarte pātālatala-sannibhe

Translation

三阇耶说道：在那浩瀚军阵的旋涡之中——幽暗可怖，宛如帕塔拉（地下界）的深渊——战场景象如同翻搅的无底深坑，将无数生命卷入毁灭。此句唤起战争的道德惊骇：当群体的狂怒与野心汇聚时，战地本身便化作地狱般的漩涡，吞没明辨与慈悲。

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, singular

• सैन्य-महा-आवर्ते: in the great whirlpool/maelstrom of the army
• सैन्य-महा-आवर्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्य + महा + आवर्त
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• पाताल-तल-संनिभे: resembling the surface/plane of the netherworld
• पाताल-तल-संनिभे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाताल + तल + संनिभ
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• army (sainya)
• Pātāla (netherworld)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical gravity of war: when armies collide in a frenzy, the scene becomes 'Pātāla-like'—a metaphor warning that unchecked wrath and ambition can turn human action into a hellish vortex where moral clarity is lost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya is describing the battlefield to Dhritarashtra, portraying the massed troops and the chaos of combat as a vast whirlpool, comparable to the dark regions of the netherworld.