Shloka 87

गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह

Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation

Devanagari script

उत्कृष्टहेमविकृतां निकृतां निशितै: शरै:

Transliteration

utkṛṣṭahemavikṛtāṁ nikṛtāṁ niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ

Translation

Sañjaya dijo: Con flechas afiladas como navajas, fue cercenada y abatida—una obra forjada y adornada con oro excelso—como señal de que, en la furia de la batalla, aun la más fina artesanía y el mayor esplendor se vuelven frágiles ante la violencia implacable.

Word by Word

• उत्कृष्ट: excellent, superior
• उत्कृष्ट: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्कृष्ट (कृ धातोः क्त प्रत्ययान्त; प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• हेम-विकृताम्: fashioned/ornamented with gold
• हेम-विकृताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हेम + विकृत (कृ धातोः क्त; प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• निकृताम्: cut, hewn, carved
• निकृताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निकृत (कृ धातोः क्त; प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• निशितैः: sharp, whetted
• निशितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निशित (शि/शै धातोः क्त; प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• शरैः: with arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• arrows (śara)
• gold (hema)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores the vulnerability of worldly excellence: even something beautifully wrought and gilded can be swiftly destroyed in war, pointing to the ethical tragedy of conflict and the impermanence of material splendor.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a gold-adorned, finely made object (unspecified in this fragment) is severed or cut down by sharp arrows, describing a vivid moment of battlefield destruction.