Shloka 18

Arjuna–Bhīṣma Strategic Engagement and Mutual Arrow-Interdiction (भीष्मार्जुनसमागमः)

Devanagari script

अथ ते द्रौपदीपुत्रा: सौभद्रश्न महारथ: । नकुल: सहदेवश्व धृष्टद्युम्नश्व॒ पार्षत:

Transliteration

atha te draupadīputrāḥ saubhadraś ca mahārathaḥ | nakulaḥ sahadevaś ca dhṛṣṭadyumnaś ca pārṣataḥ ||

Translation

قال سنجيا: ثم اندفع أبناء دروبدي، ومعهم سوبهدرا (أبهيمانيو) المحارب العظيم على العربة، ومع نكولا وسهاديفا ودهريشتاديومنَ ابن بارشاتا (دروبادا)، جميعهم إلى الأمام. كالصواعق في شدّتها ضغطوا على أبناء دريتاراشترا، يؤلمونهم بسهامٍ حادّة سريعة، ويتقدّمون عليهم كقمم الجبال حين تلوح كأنها تقترب وتثقل بوطأتها.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• ते: those (they)
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• द्रौपदी-पुत्राः: sons of Draupadī
• द्रौपदी-पुत्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रौपदीपुत्र
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• सौभद्रः: Saubhadra (Abhimanyu)
• सौभद्रः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सौभद्र
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• महारथः: great chariot-warrior
• महारथः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• नकुलः: Nakula
• नकुलः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नकुल
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• सहदेवः: Sahadeva
• सहदेवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहदेव
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• धृष्टद्युम्नः: Dhṛṣṭadyumna
• धृष्टद्युम्नः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धृष्टद्युम्न
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• पार्षतः: son of Pṛṣata (i.e., Drupada’s line; epithet of Dhṛṣṭadyumna)
• पार्षतः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्षत
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Draupadī
• Draupadī’s sons (Draupadeyas)
• Saubhadra (Abhimanyu)
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons (Kauravas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s battlefield ethic: warriors act with disciplined force in accordance with kṣatriya-duty, yet the imagery of crushing advance also hints at the heavy moral weight and suffering inherent in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Pāṇḍava-aligned heroes—Draupadī’s sons, Abhimanyu, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Dhṛṣṭadyumna—charge the Kaurava forces, striking them with sharp arrows and pressing forward with overwhelming momentum.