Shloka 18

धृतराष्ट्र–संजय संवादः: कर्ण–घटोत्कचयोर्निशायुद्धवर्णनम्

Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Sañjaya Dialogue: Description of the Night Engagement of Karṇa and Ghaṭotkaca

Devanagari script

त्वया तस्य धनुश्छिन्नमात्मनाशाय दुर्मते

Transliteration

tvayā tasya dhanuś chinnam ātmanāśāya durmate

Translation

قال سانجيا: «بيدك قُطع قوسه—وهو فعل سيقودك إلى هلاكك أنت، يا سيّئ النية.»

Word by Word

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वद्
• Form: —, Tritiya (Instrumental), Ekavacana

• तस्य: of him / his
• तस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Pum, Shashthi (Genitive), Ekavacana

• धनुः: bow
• धनुः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धनुस्
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathama (Nominative), Ekavacana

• छिन्नम्: cut / severed
• छिन्नम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: छिद्
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathama (Nominative), Ekavacana, क्त (past passive participle)

• आत्मनाशाय: for (your) self-destruction
• आत्मनाशाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मनाश
• Form: Pum, Chaturthi (Dative), Ekavacana

• दुर्मते: O evil-minded one
• दुर्मते: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्मति
• Form: Pum, Sambodhana (Vocative), Ekavacana

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• bow (dhanuḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in war, actions driven by a corrupt or reckless mind rebound upon the doer; harm inflicted in a spirit of adharma becomes a cause of one’s own downfall (ātmanāśa).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior’s bow has been severed by the addressed person, and he frames this deed as ominous—predicting that it will bring ruin upon the doer, whom he rebukes as 'durmati' (evil-minded).