Shloka 28

Devanagari script

अफक्रान्ते ततस्तस्मिन्‌ द्रोणपुत्रे महारथे

Transliteration

apakrānte tatastasmindroṇaputre mahārathe

Translation

Sañjaya said: Then, when Droṇa’s son—the great chariot-warrior—had withdrawn from that place, the situation shifted, setting the stage for what followed in the night’s grim aftermath.

Word by Word

• अवक्रान्ते: when (he) had stepped down/descended
• अवक्रान्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव-क्रम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

• ततः: then/from there
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• तस्मिन्: in/at that (time/person)
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• द्रोणपुत्रे: in/at the son of Droṇa (Aśvatthāman)
• द्रोणपुत्रे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रोणपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• महारथे: in/at the great chariot-warrior
• महारथे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Droṇaputra (Aśvatthāmā)
• Droṇa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a narrative hinge: the departure of a powerful agent (Aśvatthāmā) signals how individual choices in war redirect events, highlighting the moral weight of actions and their cascading consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Droṇa’s son, the great warrior Aśvatthāmā, has withdrawn; this brief notice marks a transition to the next development in the Sauptika Parva’s night-time sequence.