Shloka 45

Devanagari script

जामदग्न्यान्महाघोरें ब्राह्ममस्त्रमशिक्षत । यश्च द्रोणमुखान्‌ दृष्टवा विमुखानर्दिताउशरै:

Transliteration

jāmadagnyān mahāghore brāhmam astram aśikṣata | yaś ca droṇamukhān dṛṣṭvā vimukhān arditauśaraiḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Er erlernte die furchtbare Brahmā-Waffe vom wilden Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma). Und als er sah, wie Krieger schon beim Anblick von Droṇas Antlitz aus Furcht zurückwichen, bedrängte er sie mit einem Pfeilhagel.

Word by Word

जामदग्न्यात्from Jamadagni's (son/descendant)

महाघोरेin the very terrible (weapon/act)

ब्राह्मम्Brahma-related, Brahmic

अस्त्रम्weapon (missile)

अशिक्षतhe learned / was taught

यःwho

चand

द्रोणमुखान्those headed by Droṇa / Droṇa-faced (ones)

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

विमुखान्turned away, averted

अर्दितafflicted, tormented

उशरैःby arrows (uśara- missiles)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma)

Brahmāstra (Brāhma astra)

Droṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that extraordinary power (divine weapons and elite training) can decide battles, but it also implicitly warns that such power is ethically dangerous unless governed by discipline and restraint—an enduring Mahābhārata concern about the moral limits of warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a warrior who has mastered the Brahmā-weapon under Paraśurāma. In battle, seeing opponents recoil at the sight/presence of Droṇa, he presses them hard with arrows, exploiting their shaken morale.