Shloka 773

Devanagari script

जघानास्त्रं महाराज घटोत्कचसमीरितम्‌ । महाराज! कर्णने अपने बाणसमूहोंद्वारा सारी दिशाओंको आच्छादित करके घटोत्कचद्वारा चलाये गये अस्त्रोंको काट डाला

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | jaghānāstraṃ mahārāja ghaṭotkaca-samīritam |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Ô Roi, Karṇa abattit le projectile lancé par Ghaṭotkaca. Couvrant toutes les directions de volées de flèches, il trancha les armes jetées par Ghaṭotkaca—image d’une maîtrise guerrière implacable face à un adversaire redoutable et hors du commun, au cœur du tumulte moral de la guerre.

Word by Word

• जघान: slew/destroyed
• जघान: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथम, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• अस्त्रम्: weapon/missile
• अस्त्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• घटोत्कच: by Ghaṭotkaca
• घटोत्कच: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: घटोत्कच (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (समासे पूर्वपद-सम्बन्धः), एकवचन

• समीरितम्: impelled/shot/let loose
• समीरितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-ईर् (धातु) → समीरित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Karna
• Ghaṭotkaca
• astra (missile/weapon)
• arrows (bāṇa-saṃghāta implied by the Hindi gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the grim ethic of battlefield duty: skill and resolve are deployed to neutralize lethal force. It underscores how, in war, even extraordinary power (astras) is met by counter-force, raising the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between necessary action and the moral cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Ghaṭotkaca has launched a weapon, and Karna responds by saturating the battlefield with arrows and cutting down the incoming missiles—successfully thwarting Ghaṭotkaca’s assault.