Shloka 426

Devanagari script

सर्वाण्यस्त्राणि धर्मात्मा हातुकामो5भ्यभाषत । भीमसेनके ऐसा कहनेपर धर्मात्मा द्रोणाचार्य वह धनुष फेंककर अन्य सब अस्त्र- शस्त्रोंको भी त्याग देनेकी इच्छासे इस प्रकार बोले--

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | sarvāṇy astrāṇi dharmātmā hātukāmo 'bhyabhāṣata |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Wishing to lay aside all his weapons, the righteous one spoke—moved by the resolve to renounce the instruments of violence. In the midst of the battle’s moral strain, his words signal a turning from martial skill toward restraint and the burdened conscience of a warrior-teacher.

Word by Word

सर्वाणिall

अस्त्राणिweapons (missiles)

धर्मात्माthe righteous-souled one

हातुकामःdesiring to abandon

अभ्यभाषतspoke, addressed

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

astrāṇi (weapons/astras)

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?

Even amid war, dharma can manifest as restraint: the impulse to abandon weapons reflects moral hesitation, the weight of responsibility, and the recognition that power over violence includes the capacity to renounce it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that a dharmic figure, intending to give up all astras, speaks out—indicating a decisive moment where the speaker turns from continued combat toward laying down arms.