Shloka 28

Devanagari script

ततस्ते सैन्धवा योधा: सर्व एव सराजका: । नादृश्यन्त शरै: कीर्णा: शलभैरिव पादपा:,फिर तो पार्थके बाणोंसे आच्छादित हो समस्त सैन्धव योद्धा टिडिियोंसे ढँके हुए वृक्षोंकी भाँति अपने राजासहित अदृश्य हो गये

Transliteration

tataste saindhavā yodhāḥ sarva eva sarājakāḥ | nādṛśyanta śaraiḥ kīrṇāḥ śalabhair iva pādapāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then all those Sindhu warriors—together with their king—were so thickly covered by Pārtha’s arrows that they could no longer be seen, like trees hidden from view when swarmed over by locusts.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

तेthose

सैन्धवाःSindhu-country (Saindhava)

योधाःwarriors

सर्वेall

एवindeed, just

स-राजकाःtogether with their king

नnot

अदृश्यन्तwere seen / appeared

शरैःwith arrows

कीर्णाःcovered, strewn (over)

शलभैःwith locusts

इवlike, as if

पादपाःtrees

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Pārtha (Arjuna)

Saindhava warriors

Saindhava king (unnamed here)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how overwhelming, disciplined strength can neutralize hostile force; in the ethical frame of kṣatriya-dharma, aggression meets its limit when confronted by superior skill and resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna (Pārtha) showers arrows so densely upon the Saindhava fighters—along with their king—that they become visually obscured, compared to trees hidden by a swarm of locusts.