Shloka 49

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 114 — Karṇa–Bhīmasena Missile Exchange, Disarmament, and Arjuna’s Intervention

Devanagari script

नानाशस्त्रसमावायैर्विविधायुधयोधिभि: । “आज मैं विषधर सर्पके समान क्रूर स्वभाववाले उन काम्बोज-सैनिकोंके साथ युद्ध करूँगा, जो नाना प्रकारके शस्त्रसमुदायोंसे सम्पन्न और भाँति- भाँतिके आयुधोंद्वारा युद्ध करनेमें कुशल हैं ।। ४८ ई ।। किरातैश्न समेष्यामि विषकल्पै: प्रहारिभि:

Transliteration

nānāśastrasamāvāyair vividhāyudhayodhibhiḥ | kirātaiś ca sameṣyāmi viṣakalpaiḥ prahāribhiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “I shall engage in battle with those Kirātas—fighters armed with many kinds of weapons and skilled in diverse modes of combat—whose blows are like poison.”

Word by Word

नानाvarious, many kinds of

शस्त्रwith weapons

समावायैःwith collections/assemblages

विविधvarious

आयुधwith weapons/arms

योधिभिःwith fighters/warriors

किरातैःwith Kirātas

चand

समेष्यामिI shall meet/engage (in battle)

विषकल्पैःwith poison-like (deadly) ones

प्रहारिभिःwith strikers/assailants

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kirātas

weapons (śastra/āyudha)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral and psychological intensity of war: opponents are portrayed as lethally dangerous (“poison-like”), emphasizing the peril and the hardening of resolve required in a kṣatriya conflict, while implicitly pointing to the ethical unease of escalating violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Sañjaya’s battlefield narration, a combatant declares readiness to engage fierce Kirāta warriors, described as well-armed and highly skilled, whose attacks are as deadly as poison.