Shloka 17

Devanagari script

नानारूपा: प्राणहरा: शरा गाण्डीवचोदिता:

Transliteration

nānārūpāḥ prāṇaharāḥ śarā gāṇḍīvacoditāḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: Arrows of many kinds—life-taking in their effect—were released, driven forth by the Gāṇḍīva.

Word by Word

• नानारूपाः: of many forms, various-shaped
• नानारूपाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नानारूप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्राणहराः: life-taking, deadly
• प्राणहराः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राणहर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

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

• गाण्डीवचोदिताः: impelled/shot by (the bow) Gāṇḍīva
• गाण्डीवचोदिताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गाण्डीवचोदित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Gāṇḍīva
• arrows (śarāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the grim ethical reality of dharma-yuddha: even when fighting is undertaken as a duty, its immediate means are lethal. It reminds the listener that celebrated prowess and sacred duty in war still manifest as the taking of life, demanding sobriety rather than triumphalism.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield action: volleys of varied, deadly arrows are being shot, propelled by the bow Gāṇḍīva—implicitly indicating Arjuna’s intense assault in the ongoing combat of the Karṇa Parva.