Mahābhārata · Sanskrit Epic

The Victory of Dharma

धर्मस्य विजयः

Mahābhārata · Śānti Parva & Āśvamedhika Parva (शान्तिपर्व) · Beginner Sanskrit

Moral · धर्मः

यतो धर्मः ततो जयः।

yato dharmaḥ tato jayaḥ.

Where there is dharma, there is victory.

The War Ends

अष्टादश दिनानि युद्धम् अभवत् — कुरुक्षेत्रे। लक्षाणि योद्धारः वीरगतिं प्राप्ताः। अष्टादशमे दिने दुर्योधनः निपतितः। युद्धं समाप्तम् — परन्तु विजयः कटुः आसीत्। युधिष्ठिरः रणभूमिम् अपश्यत् — सर्वत्र शान्तिः — परन्तु विषण्णा। "एतत् विजयम् न — एतत् महाविनाशः।" इति तस्य मनः अकथयत्।

The war lasted eighteen days — at Kurukshetra. Hundreds of thousands of warriors attained the hero's path. On the eighteenth day, Duryodhana fell. The war ended — but the victory was bitter. Yudhishthira looked upon the battlefield — Silence everywhere — but a sorrowful silence. "This is not victory — this is great devastation," his heart said.

Read the full Mahābhārata story in Sanskrit

With vocabulary, grammar notes & audio pronunciation

Read on VedaLingo — Free →

VedaLingo — Sanskrit Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Bhagavad Gītā, Pañcatantra stories with English translation. Free Sanskrit learning with pronunciation, grammar and moral stories for all ages.