Shloka 9

Saubhadra under Concentrated Assault; Pārṣata’s Intervention and Escalation

Devanagari script

आददे च शरं घोरें पार्षतान्तचिकीर्षया । शक्राशनिसमस्पर्श कालदण्डमिवापरम्‌

Transliteration

ādade ca śaraṁ ghoraṁ pārṣatāntacikīrṣayā | śakrāśanisamasparśaṁ kāladaṇḍam ivāparam ||

Translation

Sanjaya dijo: Entonces tomó una flecha terrible, decidido a llevar al hijo de Pārṣata (Dhṛṣṭadyumna) a su fin: una flecha cuyo contacto era tan duro como el rayo de Indra, como si fuera un segundo báculo de la Muerte.

Word by Word

• आददे: took up
• आददे: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-दा (डादाने)
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3, Singular, Parasmaipada

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• शरम्: arrow
• शरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• घोरम्: terrible
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• पार्षतान्तचिकीर्षया: with the desire to put an end to the son of Pārṣata (Dṛṣṭadyumna)
• पार्षतान्तचिकीर्षया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्षतान्त-चिकीर्षा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• शक्राशनिसमस्पर्शम्: having a touch like Indra's thunderbolt
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शक्राशनि-सम-स्पर्श
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• कालदण्डम्: the staff/rod of Death (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कालदण्ड
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• इव: like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अपरम्: another, second
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna (Pārṣata)
• Śakra (Indra)
• Aśani (Indra’s thunderbolt/vajra)
• Kāla (Death/Time)
• Daṇḍa (staff/rod)
• Śara (arrow)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the terrifying momentum of war: intent (cikīrṣā) and wrath can make a warrior’s action feel like an instrument of Kāla (Death). It invites reflection on how duty-bound violence, even when socially sanctioned in battle, carries an ethical gravity and a sense of fatal inevitability.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes a combatant taking up a fearsome arrow specifically to kill Dhṛṣṭadyumna (called Pārṣata). The arrow is compared to Indra’s thunderbolt in hardness and to a second staff of Death in its lethal power.