Mahabharata 9.21.24 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 24

Adhyāya 21 — Duryodhanasya bāṇavarṣaḥ

Duryodhana’s Arrow-Storm and the Dust-Obscured Engagements

Devanagari script

तच्छूलं सात्वतो हाजोौ निर्भिद्य निशितै: शरै: । चूर्णितं पातयामास मोहयन्निव माधवम्‌

Transliteration

tacchūlaṃ sātvato hājo nirbhidya niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ | cūrṇitaṃ pātayāmāsa mohayann iva mādhavam ||

Translation

قال سنجيا: عندئذٍ شقّ المحارب الساتڤتي ذلك الرمح بسهامه الحادّة فحطّمه، وكأنه يُوقع ماذافا نفسه في حيرة، ثم أسقط السلاح المتناثر شظايا إلى الأرض.

Word by Word

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शूलम्: trident/spear
• शूलम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सात्वतः: Sātvata (Sātyaki)
• सात्वतः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सात्वत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ह: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• अजौ: O Ajā (O sinless one / O Arjuna) [vocative address]
• Type: Noun
• Root: अज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• निर्भिद्य: having pierced/broken through
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर्भिद् (नि + √भिद्)
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• निशितैः: with sharp
• निशितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निशित
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• शरैः: arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• चूर्णितम्: pulverized, shattered
• चूर्णितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चूर्णित
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• पातयामास: caused to fall; made (it) fall
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (causative: पातय-)
• Form: Perfect (periphrastic), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मोहयन्: bewildering, deluding
• मोहयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुह् (causative: मोहय-)
• Form: Present active participle (शतृ), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• माधवम्: Mādhava (Krishna)
• माधवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: माधव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Sātvata (Sātyaki)
• śūla (spear)
• arrows (śara)
• Mādhava

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in violent conflict, the text highlights disciplined skill and alertness: a lethal threat is met not with panic but with precise action, suggesting that steadiness of mind is a decisive ethical and practical strength in crisis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where the Sātvata hero (typically Sātyaki) counters an incoming spear by striking it with sharp arrows, shattering it and making the broken weapon fall to the ground, in a display likened to ‘bewildering’ Mādhava.