Shloka 21

Devanagari script

तान्‌ भीमसेन: संक्रुद्धो धृष्टद्युम्नश्व पार्षत: । बलेन चतुरज्गेण संवृत्याजघ्नतु: शरै:

Transliteration

tān bhīmasenaḥ saṁkruddho dhṛṣṭadyumnaś ca pārṣataḥ | balena caturaṅgeṇa saṁvṛtyājaghnatuḥ śaraiḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: Enfurecidos, Bhīmasena y Dhṛṣṭadyumna, hijo de Pārṣata (Drupada), los cercaron por todos lados con su ejército de cuatro cuerpos y comenzaron a abatirlos con descargas de flechas.

Word by Word

• तान्: them
• तान्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• भीमसेनः: Bhimasena
• भीमसेनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीमसेन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• संक्रुद्धः: enraged
• संक्रुद्धः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सं-क्रुध्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

• धृष्टद्युम्नः: Dhrishtadyumna
• धृष्टद्युम्नः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धृष्टद्युम्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• पार्षतः: the son of Prishata (Dhrishtadyumna)
• पार्षतः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्षत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• बलेन: with force / by strength
• बलेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बल
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• चतुरङ्गेण: with the fourfold (army)
• चतुरङ्गेण: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुरङ्ग
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• संवृत्य: having surrounded
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्-√वृ (वृणोति/वृ)
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund)

• अजघ्नतुः: the two struck / slew
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√हन्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Dual, Parasmaipada

• शरैः: with arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• Dhṛṣṭadyumna
• Drupada (Pārṣata)
• caturaṅga-bala (fourfold army)
• śara (arrows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) becomes a powerful driver of action in war: it can produce swift, effective tactics (encirclement and concentrated archery), yet it also intensifies the destructive momentum of conflict, reminding readers of the ethical cost of wrath even within kṣatriya warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Bhīma and Dhṛṣṭadyumna, filled with fury, deploy their fourfold army to surround the opposing warriors and then begin cutting them down with showers of arrows.