Shloka 73

Devanagari script

प्रयुज्य कर्म रक्षोघ्न क्षुद्रै: पार्थर्निपातित: । “मेरे पिता जटासुर राक्षसोंके अगुआ थे। उन्हें पूर्वकालमें इन नीच कुन्तीकुमारोंने राक्षस-विनाशक कर्म करके मार गिराया

Transliteration

prayujya karma rakṣoghnāḥ kṣudraiḥ pārthair nipātitaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «En accomplissant des actes voués à l’extermination des rākṣasa, ces fils méprisables de Pṛthā abattirent mon père, Jaṭāsura, qui jadis avait été le chef des rākṣasa.»

Word by Word

प्रयुज्यhaving employed/using

कर्मdeed; act

रक्षोघ्नO slayer of Rakshasas

क्षुद्रैःby the mean/low (ones)

पार्थैःby the sons of Pritha (Pandavas)

निपातितःwas struck down; felled

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pārthas (Pāṇḍavas / sons of Pṛthā-Kuntī)

Jaṭāsura

Rākṣasas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line frames violence as morally charged action: deeds undertaken as “rākṣasa-destroying” can be presented as righteous protection, yet the speaker’s labeling of the Pāṇḍavas as “kṣudra” shows how ethical judgment is often shaped by grief, allegiance, and the desire for retaliation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Sañjaya’s report, a speaker recalls an earlier event: Jaṭāsura, described as a former leader among rākṣasas, was killed by the Pāṇḍavas while they were engaged in demon-slaying acts; this remembrance functions as a motive-setting accusation and a seed for enmity.