Shloka 39

अध्याय ५३ — रणमेघोपमा सेना-वर्णना तथा सुषेण-वधोत्तर प्रतिक्रिया

Battle-as-Storm Imagery and the Aftermath of Suṣeṇa’s Fall

Devanagari script

दृष्टवा तु वारितां युद्धे शस्त्रवृष्टिं दुरासदाम्‌ | कृतवर्माणमासाद्य वारयामास पार्षत:

Transliteration

dṛṣṭvā tu vāritāṃ yuddhe śastravṛṣṭiṃ durāsadām | kṛtavarmāṇam āsādya vārayām āsa pārṣataḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Seeing that the hard-to-withstand shower of weapons had been checked in battle, the son of Pṛṣata (Dhṛṣṭadyumna) advanced upon Kṛtavarmā and held him back, preventing his further advance on the field.

Word by Word

• {'dṛṣṭvā': 'having seen', 'tu': 'but/indeed', 'vāritām': 'checked, restrained, held back', 'yuddhe': 'in battle', 'śastra-vṛṣṭim': 'shower/rain of weapons', 'durāsadām': 'hard to approach

• difficult to withstand/assail', 'kṛtavarmāṇam': 'Kṛtavarmā (accusative)', 'āsādya': 'having approached, having attacked/come up to', 'vārayām āsa': 'he prevented/checked (intensive periphrastic)', 'pārṣataḥ': 'the son of Pṛṣata, i.e., Dhṛṣṭadyumna'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna (Pārṣata)
• Kṛtavarmā
• śastra (weapons)
• raṇabhūmi (battlefield)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights kṣatriya-duty in wartime: when a dangerous assault is checked, a commander must immediately neutralize the opposing threat by direct engagement, prioritizing protection of the army and control of the battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Dhṛṣṭadyumna, seeing the fierce weapon-barrage being restrained, advances toward Kṛtavarmā and blocks his progress, stopping him from pushing forward in the fight.