Shloka 10

Śaineya–Bhūriśravas: Genealogy, Svayaṃvara Contest, and the Maheśvara Boon

Devanagari script

राजन! जैसे बॉबीसे क्रोधमें भरे हुए बहुत-से सर्प प्रकट होते हैं, उसी प्रकार द्रोणाचार्यके रथसे शरीरको छेद डालनेवाले बाण प्रकट होकर वहाँ सब ओर गिरने लगे || ९ तथैव युयुधानेन सृष्टा: शतसहस्रश: । अवाकिरन्‌ द्रोणरथं शरा रुधिरभोजना:,उसी प्रकार युयुधानके चलाये हुए लाखों रुधिरभोजी बाण द्रोणाचार्यके रथपर बरसने लगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

rājan! yathā bubhutsita-krodha-bharitā bahavaḥ sarpāḥ prādurbhavanti, tathā droṇācārya-rathāt śarīra-vidāraṇāḥ śarāḥ prādurbhūya tatra sarvataḥ patitum ārabdhāḥ ||

tathaiva yuyudhānena sṛṣṭāḥ śata-sahasraśaḥ | avākiran droṇa-rathaṃ śarā rudhira-bhojanāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, just as many serpents, swollen with fierce anger, suddenly appear, so too from Droṇa’s chariot there burst forth body-piercing arrows, falling in every direction. And in the same way, Yuyudhāna loosed arrows by the hundreds of thousands—blood-drinking shafts that rained upon Droṇa’s chariot.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'rājan', 'definition': 'O king (vocative address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)'}, {'term': 'yathā … tathā', 'definition': 'just as … so too (comparative construction)'}, {'term': 'krodha', 'definition': 'anger, wrath'}, {'term': 'sarpāḥ', 'definition': 'serpents'}, {'term': 'prādurbhavanti / prādurbhūya', 'definition': 'appear, manifest

• having appeared'}, {'term': 'droṇa-ratha / droṇācārya-ratha', 'definition': 'Droṇa’s chariot'}, {'term': 'śara / śarāḥ', 'definition': 'arrow(s)'}, {'term': 'śarīra-vidāraṇa', 'definition': 'body-tearing, body-piercing'}, {'term': 'yuyudhāna', 'definition': 'Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki), a foremost Yādava warrior on the Pāṇḍava side'}, {'term': 'sṛṣṭāḥ', 'definition': 'released, discharged (of missiles)'}, {'term': 'śata-sahasraśaḥ', 'definition': 'by hundreds of thousands

• in vast numbers'}, {'term': 'avākiran', 'definition': 'they showered upon, they rained down on'}, {'term': 'rudhira-bhojanāḥ', 'definition': 'blood-eating, blood-drinking (a grim epithet for arrows)'}]

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Droṇa (Droṇācārya)
• Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki)
• Droṇa’s chariot
• arrows (śarāḥ)
• serpents (sarpāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how wrath and martial skill can unleash overwhelming destruction; even within a dharma-framed war, the imagery warns that anger-driven force becomes indiscriminate and morally costly, symbolized by “blood-drinking” arrows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes an intense exchange: Droṇa’s chariot sends forth a storm of body-piercing arrows in all directions, and Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) responds by showering Droṇa’s chariot with vast numbers of arrows.