Shloka 28

अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च

Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter

Devanagari script

सच्छिन्नवर्मा नाराचप्रहारैर्जर्जरीकृत:

Transliteration

sacchinnavarmā nārācaprahārair jarjarīkṛtaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Seine Rüstung war in Stücke geschnitten, und durch die wiederholten Treffer der nārāca-Pfeile wurde er zerschlagen und zerrüttet – ein Bild dafür, wie die unablässige Gewalt des Krieges dem Krieger den Schutz entreißt und inmitten der Trümmer nur Ausdauer und Entschlossenheit zurücklässt.

Word by Word

• सच्छिन्नवर्मा: whose armour is well cut/torn
• सच्छिन्नवर्मा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सच्छिन्नवर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नाराचप्रहारैः: by the blows/strikes of iron arrows
• नाराचप्रहारैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाराचप्रहार
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• जर्जरीकृतः: made shattered; rendered into tatters
• जर्जरीकृतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जर्जरीकृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• armor (varman)
• nārāca arrows

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark ethic of the battlefield: worldly protections (like armor) are fragile before sustained aggression, and war exposes the body—and the mind—to relentless harm, testing a warrior’s steadiness and resolve within kṣatriya duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior (implied from context) whose armor has been sliced apart and who has been repeatedly struck by powerful nārāca arrows, leaving him battered and broken in the midst of combat.