Shloka 28

Devanagari script

संछिन्दन्तौ च गात्राणि संदधानौ च सायकान्‌

Transliteration

saṃchindantau ca gātrāṇi saṃdadhānau ca sāyakān

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Sie hieben einander die Glieder ab und legten sogleich wieder Pfeile auf den Bogen.“ Diese Zeile fasst den düsteren Rhythmus der Schlacht—Verwundung ohne Unterlass und sofortige Bereitschaft, erneut zuzuschlagen—und zeigt, wie in Kriegen Können und Entschlossenheit zu Werkzeugen unablässiger Gewalt werden können, sodass der Hörer über die ethischen Kosten solcher ungebrochener Aggression nachdenken muss.

Word by Word

• संछिन्दन्तौ: cutting asunder
• संछिन्दन्तौ: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + छिद्
• Form: लट्, परस्मैपदम्, प्रथम, द्विवचन, कर्तरि

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

• गात्राणि: limbs, bodies
• गात्राणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गात्र
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• संदधानौ: placing, fixing, fitting (on)
• संदधानौ: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + धा
• Form: लट्, आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथम, द्विवचन, कर्तरि

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

• सायकान्: arrows
• सायकान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सायक
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• limbs (gātrāṇi)
• arrows (sāyakāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the relentless momentum of warfare: harm is inflicted and immediately followed by renewed preparation to harm again. Ethically, it invites reflection on how duty and martial prowess, when absorbed into battle-fury, can normalize continuous violence and eclipse compassion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a close, intense fight between two warriors (implied by the dual forms): they are cutting off limbs and repeatedly setting arrows to shoot again, indicating sustained, ferocious combat without respite.