Shloka 28

Devanagari script

शिबीनिक्ष्वाकुमुख्यां श्व त्रिगर्तान्‌ सैन्धवानपि । जघानातिरथ: संख्ये बाणगोचरमागतान्‌,उन अतिरथी वीरने युद्धमें बाणोंके लक्ष्य बने हुए शिबि, इक्ष्वाकु, त्रिगर्त और सिन्धुदेशके क्षत्रियोंको भी मार डाला

Transliteration

śibīn ikṣvākumukhyāṁś ca trigartān saindhavān api | jaghānātirathaḥ saṅkhye bāṇagocaram āgatān ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: In the thick of battle, that great chariot-warrior (Atiratha) struck down even the foremost among the Śibis and the Ikṣvākus, as well as the Trigartas and the Sindhu men, when they had come within the range of his arrows—becoming targets before him.

Word by Word

शिबीन्the Śibis (people)

इक्ष्वाकुमुख्यान्the foremost among the Ikṣvākus

चand

त्रिगर्तान्the Trigartas

सैन्धवान्the Sindhu/Saindhava people

अपिalso, even

जघानkilled, slew

अतिरथःthe great chariot-warrior (Atiratha)

संख्येin battle

बाणगोचरम्within the range/target of arrows

आगतान्come, having come (into that state/range)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Atiratha (great chariot-warrior)

Śibi (people)

Ikṣvāku (lineage/people)

Trigarta (people)

Saindhava/Sindhu (people/region)

arrows (bāṇa)

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 impartial brutality of war: once combatants enter the arrow’s range, even the most eminent lineages and renowned warriors can be cut down. It implicitly cautions that martial glory is inseparable from moral cost and human fragility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that an exceptionally powerful chariot-warrior (called atiratha) kills warriors from several famed groups—Śibis, leading Ikṣvākus, Trigartas, and Saindhavas—when they come within his effective arrow-range on the battlefield.