Shloka 356

Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana

Devanagari script

शलभानामिव व्राता: शरा: कर्णसमीरिता: । कर्णके चलाये हुए सहस्रों सुवर्गणमय बाण आकाशकमें टिड्डीदलोंके समान प्रकाशित हो रहे थे

Transliteration

śalabhānām iva vrātāḥ śarāḥ karṇa-samīritāḥ | karṇena cālaye huye sahasroṃ suvarṇa-gaṇamaya bāṇa ākāśe śalabha-dalān iva prakāśitā babhūvuḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Stirred and driven by Karṇa, the flights of arrows shone in the sky like swarms of locusts—countless shafts, gleaming as if wrought of gold.

Word by Word

• शलभानाम्: of locusts
• शलभानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शलभ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• इव: like/as
• इव: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• व्राताः: groups/swarms
• व्राताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्रात
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शराः: arrows
• शराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कर्ण-समीरिताः: impelled/shot by Karna
• कर्ण-समीरिताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-ईरित (सम्-ईर्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa
• arrows (śarāḥ)
• sky (ākāśa)
• locust swarms (śalabha-vrāta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how martial excellence can become overwhelming and all-consuming; ethically, it warns that when conflict is pursued without restraint, violence proliferates like a swarm, obscuring clarity and compassion even amid claims of duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Karṇa releasing and driving vast numbers of arrows; they glitter in the sky like a locust swarm, emphasizing the intensity of Karṇa’s assault and the battlefield’s terrifying spectacle.