Shloka 15
द्वैपायनह्रदे दुर्योधनान्वेषणम् / The Search for Duryodhana at Dvaipāyana Lake
अक्षौहिण्य: समेतास्तु तव पुत्रस्य भारत । एकादश हता युद्धे ता: प्रभो पाण्डुसृजयै:
akṣauhiṇyaḥ sametās tu tava putrasya bhārata | ekādaśa hatā yuddhe tāḥ prabho pāṇḍusṛjayaiḥ ||
三阇耶说道：“噢，婆罗多啊，你的儿子曾集结了整整十一支阿叉乌希尼大军。然而在战争中，主上啊，般度五子与斯林阇耶诸族合力，将其尽数歼灭。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that sheer military magnitude (eleven akṣauhiṇīs) does not guarantee victory; when power is wielded in an unrighteous cause, it becomes vulnerable to collapse. It also points to the devastating, totalizing nature of war—where entire formations can be annihilated—inviting reflection on the ethical cost of ambition and conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana’s side had eleven akṣauhiṇī armies, but in the course of the war the Pāṇḍavas and their Sṛñjaya allies destroyed them. It is a summary statement of the Kaurava forces’ catastrophic losses.