Shloka 41

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

Devanagari script

तेन सम्भाविता नित्यं परवीर्योपजीविना

Transliteration

tena sambhāvitā nityaṃ paravīryopajīvinā

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Toujours honorés et entretenus par lui—un homme qui vivait en s’appuyant sur la vaillance d’autrui—(ils demeuraient dans ce lien de dépendance). Le vers met en lumière une dépendance moralement trouble : prestige et subsistance acquis non par son propre mérite, mais par l’attachement à la force d’un autre, un schéma que la guerre ne cesse de dévoiler et de châtier.

Word by Word

• तेन: by him/thereby
• तेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• सम्भाविता: honoured/respected
• सम्भाविता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्भावित (सम् + भावय्)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• परवीर्योपजीविना: by one who lives on another's prowess
• परवीर्योपजीविना: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परवीर्योपजीविन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral risk of living on borrowed power: honor and security gained through dependence on another’s strength can erode autonomy and dharmic integrity, especially in the pressures of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues describing a relationship or situation in which someone is continually honored/maintained by another person characterized as ‘living by others’ valor,’ indicating patronage, dependence, and the social dynamics that shape conduct on the battlefield.