Shloka 54

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 95 — Sātyaki’s Breakthrough and the Routing of Allied Contingents

Devanagari script

प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय क्षत्रियान्‌ क्षत्रियर्षभ: । क्षत्रियशिरोमणि अर्जुनने वहाँ छः: हजार घुड़सवारों तथा एक हजार श्रेष्ठ शूरवीर क्षत्रियोंको मृत्युके लोकमें भेज दिया |। ५३ ई |। शरै: सहस््रशो विद्धा विधिवत्कल्पिता द्विपा:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya kṣatriyān kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: The bull among kṣatriyas dispatched the kṣatriya warriors to the realm of Death—an image that frames the battlefield not as mere victory, but as the grave moral cost of kṣatriya duty carried out through lethal force.

Word by Word

प्राहिणोत्sent forth

मृत्युलोकायto the world of Death

क्षत्रियान्Kshatriyas (warriors)

क्षत्रियर्षभःthe bull among Kshatriyas (best of warriors)

शरैःwith arrows

सहस्रशःby the thousand; in thousands

विद्धाःpierced; struck

विधिवत्according to rule; duly

कल्पिताःarranged; formed; prepared

द्विपाःelephants

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

kṣatriyas

Mṛtyuloka (realm of Death)

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 the tension within kṣatriya-dharma: a warrior’s duty may demand lethal action, yet the narration deliberately names its consequence—sending men to the realm of Death—underscoring the ethical weight of battlefield duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a foremost kṣatriya (contextually a leading Pandava warrior, often Arjuna in this section) is cutting down opposing kṣatriyas in large numbers, described poetically as dispatching them to Mṛtyuloka.