Shloka 39
Nārāyaṇāstra-utpātaḥ — Aśvatthāman’s Rallying Roar after Droṇa’s Fall (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६७)
हार्दिक्यशरसंछन्न॑ं कवचं तन््महाधनम् । व्यशीर्यत रणे राज॑स्ताराजालमिवाम्बरात्,राजन! कृतवर्माके बाणोंसे आच्छादित हुआ वह बहुमूल्य कवच आकाशसे तारोंके समुदायकी भाँति रणभूमिमें बिखर गया
hārdikyaśarasaṃchannaṃ kavacaṃ tan mahādhanam | vyaśīryata raṇe rājas tārājālam ivāmbarāt, rājan |
Sañjaya dit : Ô roi, cette cuirasse inestimable—couverte des flèches de Hārdikya—se brisa et se dispersa sur le champ de bataille, telle un filet d’étoiles tombant du ciel.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly safeguards—wealth, armor, and status—when confronted by the destructive momentum of war; it evokes impermanence and the ethical cost of violence, where even the 'most valuable' protections are reduced to fragments.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how a valuable cuirass, struck and covered by Kṛtavarmā’s arrows, breaks apart and scatters over the battlefield, compared poetically to a cluster of stars falling from the sky.