Shloka 48

Devanagari script

तयो: शरसहसैश्न संछन्न॑ं वसुधातलम्‌ | अगम्यरूपं च शरैराकाशं समपद्यत,उन दोनोंके हजारों बाणोंसे पृथ्वी ढक गयी और आकाशगमें भी बाणोंके कारण (पक्षियोंतकका) चलना-फिरना बंद हो गया

Transliteration

tayor śara-sahasraiś channaṁ vasudhā-talam | agamyarūpaṁ ca śarair ākāśaṁ samapadyata ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Durch die Tausende von Pfeilen, die jene beiden abschossen, wurde die Erdfläche völlig bedeckt; und auch der Himmel, von Schaft an Schaft verstopft, wurde unpassierbar — so dass selbst die Vögel sich nicht mehr darin bewegen konnten.

Word by Word

• तयोः: of those two
• तयोः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/स्त्री/नपुं (सर्वनाम), षष्ठी, द्विवचन

• शर-सहस्रैः: by thousands of arrows
• शर-सहस्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• संछन्नम्: covered, concealed
• संछन्नम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + छद् (धातु) → छन्न (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• वसुधा-तलम्: the surface of the earth
• वसुधा-तलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अगम्य-रूपम्: having an impassable form
• अगम्य-रूपम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

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

• शरैः: by arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• आकाशम्: the sky
• आकाशम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आकाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• समपद्यत: became, came to be
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + पद् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतन-भूत), प्रथम, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• arrows (śara)
• earth/ground (vasudhā-tala)
• sky (ākāśa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the overwhelming, world-obscuring force of unchecked warfare: when combat intensifies beyond measure, it disrupts not only opponents but the natural order itself, reminding the listener of war’s collateral harm and the ethical weight borne by warriors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a duel between two fighters whose volleys of arrows are so dense that the ground is carpeted with shafts and the sky becomes effectively impassable, as if even birds cannot fly through it.