Shloka 112

Devanagari script

शरणागते न्यस्तशस्त्रे याचमाने तथार्जुन । अबाणे भ्रष्ट कवचे भ्रष्टभग्नायुधे तथा

Transliteration

śaraṇāgate nyastaśastre yācamāne tathārjuna | abāṇe bhraṣṭakavace bhraṣṭabhagnāyudhe tathā

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „O Arjuna, als er kam, um Zuflucht zu suchen—die Waffe niedergelegt und flehend—als er ohne Pfeile war, der Harnisch abgefallen und die Waffen ebenfalls zerbrochen…“

Word by Word

शरणागतेin (one) who has come for refuge

न्यस्तशस्त्रेin (one) who has laid down his weapon

याचमानेin (one) who is begging/imploring

तथाthus; likewise

अर्जुनO Arjuna

अबाणेin (one) without arrows

भ्रष्टकवचेin (one) whose armor has fallen off

भ्रष्टभग्नायुधेin (one) with weapons fallen and broken

तथाand also; likewise

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Arjuna

śastra (weapon)

bāṇa (arrows)

kavaca (armour)

āyudha (weapons)

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 foregrounds a classic dharma-conflict in epic warfare: how a warrior should respond when an opponent becomes a suppliant—disarmed, pleading, and materially incapable of fighting. It invokes the ethical weight of śaraṇāgati (seeking refuge) and the expectation that kṣatriya conduct includes restraint toward the helpless or surrendered.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes to the listener that a combatant has reached a state of extreme vulnerability—having laid down weapons, begging, lacking arrows, with armour fallen and weapons broken—while addressing Arjuna. The description sets the scene for a consequential decision about whether to strike or to spare under battlefield dharma.