Shloka 10

Devanagari script

सा नाशकद्‌ यदा गन्तुं पदात्‌ पदमपि स्वयम्‌

Transliteration

sā nāśakad yadā gantuṃ padāt padam api svayam

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说：当她连凭自身之力迈出一步都不能再前行时，她的无助便昭然可见。

Word by Word

• सा: she
• सा: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अशकत्: was able
• Type: Verb
• Root: शक्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• यदा: when
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदा

• गन्तुम्: to go
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Infinitive (Tumun)

• पदात्: from a step/footing
• पदात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• पदम्: a step
• पदम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अपि: even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• स्वयम्: by herself
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: स्वयम्

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• an unnamed woman (sā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the vulnerability of embodied beings: even determination can be halted by physical collapse. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical landscape, such moments invite compassion and remind readers that the costs of war extend beyond victory and defeat into exhaustion, grief, and helplessness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that a woman (referred to simply as “she”) reaches a point where she cannot proceed even one step by herself, indicating extreme fatigue or incapacity within the ongoing events of Śalya-parvan.