Shloka 676

Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host

Devanagari script

योधा: पर्यपतन्‌ राजन्‌ शतशो5थ सहसख्रश: | राजन! शूरवीरोंके उस संघर्षमें सब ओरसे सैकड़ों-हजारों योद्धा टूट पड़े और वे एक- दूसरेकी और देखने लगे

Transliteration

yodhāḥ paryapatan rājan śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ |

Translation

三阇耶说道：大王啊，在那群雄相搏之际，战士从四面八方涌来——成百上千——彼此逼近，目光紧锁对手；战局愈发收束，终于化作正面相接的对决。

Word by Word

• योधाः: warriors
• योधाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पर्यपतन्: fell upon / rushed upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

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

• शतशः: by hundreds / in hundreds
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शत (प्रातिपदिक)

• अथ: and then / also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• सहस्रशः: by thousands / in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• yodhāḥ (warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the overwhelming momentum of war: once collective violence is unleashed, individuals are swept into mass confrontation. Ethically, it frames the battlefield as a space where human agency is pressured by numbers, fury, and the immediacy of facing an opponent—highlighting the tragic escalation that dharma seeks to restrain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid the heroes’ struggle, warriors charged in from all directions in vast numbers—hundreds and thousands—closing ranks and turning toward one another for direct engagement.