Shloka 28

Devanagari script

सच्छिन्नवर्मा नाराचप्रहारैर्जर्जरीकृत:

Transliteration

sacchinnavarmā nārācaprahārair jarjarīkṛtaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: His armor had been cut to pieces, and by repeated blows of nārāca arrows he was battered and shattered—an image of how relentless violence in war strips a warrior of protection and leaves only endurance and resolve amid ruin.

Word by Word

• सच्छिन्नवर्मा: whose armour is well cut/torn
• सच्छिन्नवर्मा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सच्छिन्नवर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नाराचप्रहारैः: by the blows/strikes of iron arrows
• नाराचप्रहारैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाराचप्रहार
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• जर्जरीकृतः: made shattered; rendered into tatters
• जर्जरीकृतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जर्जरीकृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• armor (varman)
• nārāca arrows

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark ethic of the battlefield: worldly protections (like armor) are fragile before sustained aggression, and war exposes the body—and the mind—to relentless harm, testing a warrior’s steadiness and resolve within kṣatriya duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior (implied from context) whose armor has been sliced apart and who has been repeatedly struck by powerful nārāca arrows, leaving him battered and broken in the midst of combat.