Shloka 60

Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)

Devanagari script

।। विप्रयातांस्तु वो भिन्नान्‌ पाण्डवा: कृतविप्रिया:

Transliteration

viprayātāṁs tu vo bhinnān pāṇḍavāḥ kṛtavipriyāḥ

Translation

三阇耶说道：“你们之中那些转身离去、四散而逃的人，般度之子追随而上，使其再度屈服（归于不再作乱），并在战场上按其所当受者处置。”

Word by Word

• विप्रयातान्: departed, gone away
• विप्रयातान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विप्र-या (धातु: या) / विप्रयात (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• तु: but, however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• वः: of you (your)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Plural

• भिन्नान्: split, separated, broken
• भिन्नान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भिद् (धातु: भिद्) / भिन्न (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• पाण्डवाः: the Pandavas
• पाण्डवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कृतविप्रियाः: having done what is displeasing; having caused displeasure
• कृतविप्रियाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत-विप्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍavāḥ (the Pāṇḍavas)
• vo (the Kaurava side addressed as 'your')

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid warfare, effective leadership includes restoring cohesion and reducing hostility where possible—turning scattered or wavering opponents into a non-threatening state through conciliation rather than relying only on force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that some of the Kaurava troops had broken formation and drifted away; the Pāṇḍavas responded by bringing such men into a pacified, non-hostile condition, indicating control of the battlefield situation and the ability to manage fractured enemy elements.