Mahabharata 7.114.48 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 114, Shloka 48

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 114 — Karṇa–Bhīmasena Missile Exchange, Disarmament, and Arjuna’s Intervention

Devanagari script

काम्बोजै्हि समेष्यामि तीक्ष्णराशीविषोपमै:

Transliteration

kāmbojaiḥ samaiṣyāmi tīkṣṇa-rāśi-viṣopamaiḥ

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: «Avanzaré junto con los Kāmbojas—hombres como una masa afilada de veneno—mortíferos en su embestida».

Word by Word

• काम्बोजैः: by/with the Kambojas
• काम्बोजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम्बोज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• हि: indeed/for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• समेष्यामि: I shall come together/meet (engage)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-इ
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada

• तीक्ष्ण-राशि-विष-उपमैः: with those comparable to sharp heaps/masses of poison
• तीक्ष्ण-राशि-विष-उपमैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तीक्ष्ण + राशि + विष + उपम
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• कम्बोज (Kāmbojas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores how war rhetoric normalizes extreme harm: allies are praised for being ‘poison-like’—a reminder that in the Mahābhārata, martial effectiveness often conflicts with ethical restraint, and the narrator’s imagery invites reflection on the moral cost of celebrating lethal power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events of the Kurukṣetra war, reports a combatant’s intention to advance in concert with the Kāmboja warriors, describing them as fiercely dangerous—like a concentrated, sharp poison—emphasizing the intensity of the impending assault.