Shloka 15

Rajo-dhūli-saṃmūḍha-saṅgrāmaḥ

The Dust-Obscured Battle and Mutual Charges

Devanagari script

स हि शूरश्न कौन्तेय: क्षिप्रकारी धनंजय: । मन्ये शरै: शरीराणि शत्रूणां प्रमथिष्यति

Transliteration

sa hi śūraś ca kaunteyaḥ kṣiprakārī dhanañjayaḥ | manye śaraiḥ śarīrāṇi śatrūṇāṃ pramathiṣyati, tāta ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Car Arjuna Dhanañjaya, fils de Kuntī, est vraiment un héros, prompt et décisif dans l’action. Je le crains sans cesse, et cette crainte ne s’apaise pas. Mon fils, je pense qu’avec ses flèches il écrasera et bouleversera les corps de ses ennemis.»

Word by Word

• {'saḥ': 'he (that person)', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'śūraḥ': 'heroic, valiant warrior', 'ca': 'and', 'kaunteyaḥ': 'son of Kuntī

• epithet of Arjuna', 'kṣiprakārī': 'quick-acting

• swift in execution', 'dhanañjayaḥ': '‘winner of wealth’

• epithet of Arjuna', 'manye': 'I think

• I consider', 'śaraiḥ': 'with arrows (instrumental plural of śara)', 'śarīrāṇi': 'bodies (accusative plural)', 'śatrūṇām': 'of enemies (genitive plural)', 'pramathiṣyati': 'he will crush/churn/violently agitate

• he will devastate', 'tāta': 'dear son

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Arjuna
• Kuntī
• Dhanañjaya
• enemies (śatravaḥ)
• arrows (śarāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how fear and attachment cloud judgment: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anxiety for his son makes him fixate on Arjuna’s prowess. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata theme that inner states (fear, partiality) shape political and moral choices, often leading to ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

During the war reports and anticipations in Bhīṣma Parva, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to his son (implicitly Duryodhana), confessing persistent fear of Arjuna. He describes Arjuna as swift and heroic and predicts that Arjuna will devastate the enemy ranks with his arrows.