Devanagari
अहो मे पश्यताज्ञानं हृदि रूढं दुरात्मन: ।
पारक्यस्यैव देहस्य बह्व्यो मेऽक्षौहिणीर्हता: ॥ ४८ ॥
Verse text
aho me paśyatājṣānaṁ
hṛdi rūḍhaṁ durātmanaḥ
pārakyasyaiva dehasya
bahvyo me ’kṣauhiṇīr hatāḥ
Synonyms
aho
—
O
;
me
—
my
;
paśyata
—
just see
;
ajṣānam
—
ignorance
;
hṛdi
—
in the heart
;
rūḍham
—
situated in
;
durātmanaḥ
—
of the sinful
;
pārakyasya
—
meant for others
;
eva
—
certainly
;
dehasya
—
of the body
;
bahvyaḥ
—
many, many
;
me
—
by me
;
akṣauhiṇīḥ
—
combination of military phalanxes
;
hatāḥ
—
killed .
Translation
King Yudhiṣṭhira said: O my lot! I am the most sinful man! Just see my heart, which is full of ignorance! This body, which is ultimately meant for others, has killed many, many phalanxes of men.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Oh! Look at the ignorance spread over my evil heart. Just for my body which is fit for the jackals’ food, I have killed many armies.
Purport
A solid phalanx of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 109,650 infantry and 65,600 cavalry is called an
akṣauhiṇī.
And many
akṣauhiṇīs
were killed on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, as the most pious king of the world, takes for himself the responsibility for killing such a huge number of living beings because the battle was fought to reinstate him on the throne. This body is, after all, meant for others. While there is life in the body, it is meant for the service of others, and when it is dead it is meant to be eaten by dogs and jackals or maggots. He is sorry because for such a temporary body such a huge massacre was committed.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
For my body which is food for dogs and jackals (pārakyasya) I have killed many akṣauhinīs. Vyāsa has described the akṣauhiṇī.
akṣauhiṇī prasaṁkhyātā rathānāṁ dvija-sattamāḥ |
saṁkhyā-gaṇana-tattva-jṣaiḥ sahasrāny eka-viṁśatiḥ ||
śatāny upari caivāṣṭau tathā bhūyaś ca saptatiḥ |
gajānāṁ ca prasaṁkhyānam etad eva prakīrtitam ||
jṣeyaṁ śata-sahasraṁ tu sahasrāni navaiva tu |
nārāṇām api paṣcāśacchatāni trīṇi caiva hi ||
paṣca-ṣaṣṭhi-sahasrāṇi tathāśvānāṁ śatāni ca |
daśottarāṇi ṣaṭ prāhuḥ saṁkhyā-tattva-vido janāḥ |
etām akṣauhiṇīṁ prāhur yathāvad iha saṁkhyayā ||
O best of the brāhmaṇas! Those who understand counting know that an akṣauhiṇī consists of 21,870 chariots and the same number of elephants. It has 109,350 foot soldiers. It has 65,610 horses.