Mahabharata 7.161.25 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 161, Shloka 25

अजिशीर्षे प्रातःसंध्यायां संग्रामवर्णनम् / Dawn-Transition Battle at Ajiśīrṣa

Chapter 161

Devanagari script

हन्यतामयमुत्सिक्त: सूतपुत्रो5ल्पचेतन: । सर्वे: पार्थिवशार्टूलैननिनार्थो5स्ति जीवता

Transliteration

hanyatām ayam utsiktaḥ sūtaputro 'lpacetanaḥ | sarvaiḥ pārthivaśārdūlair anenārtho 'sti jīvatā ||

Translation

সঞ্জয় বললেন—“এই উদ্ধত, অল্পবুদ্ধি সূতপুত্রকে বধ করো। তোমরা সকলেই বাঘসম রাজা—এর বেঁচে থাকায় কোনো লাভ নেই।”

Word by Word

• हन्यताम्: let (him) be slain
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (imperative), कर्मणि (passive), 3, singular

• अयम्: this (man)
• अयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• उत्सिक्तः: arrogant, puffed up
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्सिक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √सिच्/सिञ्च्)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• सूतपुत्रः: the charioteer’s son
• सूतपुत्रः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूतपुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• अल्पचेतनः: of little understanding
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अल्पचेतन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• सर्वैः: by all
• सर्वैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine/neuter, instrumental, plural

• पार्थिवशार्दूलैः: by the tiger-like kings
• पार्थिवशार्दूलैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिवशार्दूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, instrumental, plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (निपात)

• अनिनार्थः: a purposeless (thing/person); one without any aim
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनिनार्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• अस्ति: is
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), 3, singular

• जीवता: by (his) being alive; while alive
• जीवता: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine/neuter, instrumental, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• sūtaputra (the charioteer’s son, i.e., Karṇa by epithet)
• pārthivaśārdūla (the kings addressed collectively)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how wartime rhetoric can dehumanize an opponent through social labels and moral condemnation, framing killing as ‘necessary’ and denying the enemy any legitimate place to live. Ethically, it illustrates the tension between kṣatriya duty in battle and the corrosive power of contempt and caste-based insult.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a call to action directed at the assembled kings: the speaker urges them to kill the ‘arrogant’ sūtaputra, asserting that leaving him alive serves no strategic or moral purpose. It reflects the heightened hostility and urgency within the Drona Parva’s battlefield context.