Shloka 8

अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः

Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve

Devanagari script

अवध्य: सर्वभूतानां वज़संहननो युवा । पाण्डवै: समरे पुत्रो निहतो मम संजय,संजय! मेरा पुत्र नवयुवक था। उसका शरीर वज्रके समान कठोर था और इसीलिये वह सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंके लिये अवध्य था, तथापि पाण्डवोंने समरांगणमें उसका वध कर डाला

Transliteration

avadhyaḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ vajrasaṁhanano yuvā | pāṇḍavaiḥ samare putro nihato mama sañjaya ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „Sañjaya! Mein Sohn war jung; sein Leib war hart wie ein Vajra, und darum galt er allen Wesen als unverwundbar. Dennoch haben ihn die Pāṇḍavas im Kampf erschlagen.“

Word by Word

अवध्यःinvulnerable, not to be slain

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

वज्रसंहननःhaving a body/constitution hard like a thunderbolt

युवाa youth, young man

पाण्डवैःby the Pandavas

समरेin battle

पुत्रःson

निहतःslain, killed

ममmy

संजयO Sanjaya

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍavas

the speaker's son (putra)

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?

Physical strength and the reputation of being ‘invulnerable’ do not ultimately protect one in the chaos of war; the verse highlights the fragility of human claims to security and the ethical anguish that follows violent loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a death in the aftermath of the great battle: he laments that his young son—thought unassailable due to his thunderbolt-like build—was nevertheless killed by the Pāṇḍavas in combat.