Shloka 9

Devanagari script

तस्य त्वहानि चत्वारि क्षपा चैकास्थतो गता । तस्य चाह्नस्त्रिभागेन क्षयं जग्मु: पतत्त्रिण:,उनके निरन्तर बाण चलाते चार दिन और एक रातका समय बीत चुका था। उस दिनके पंद्रह भागोंमेंसे तीन ही भागमें उनके सारे बाण समाप्त हो गये

Transliteration

tasya tv ahāni catvāri kṣapā caikāstato gatā | tasya cāhnas tribhāgena kṣayaṃ jagmuḥ patattriṇaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Tandis qu’il soutenait sans relâche sa décharge de flèches, quatre jours et une nuit s’écoulèrent ainsi. Et, en trois parts seulement sur les quinze divisions de ce jour-là, tous ses traits ailés—ses flèches—furent épuisés.

Word by Word

तस्यof him/that (of his)

तुbut/indeed

अहानिdays

चत्वारिfour

क्षपाnight

चand

एकाone

अस्थतःcontinuously/without pause (as it were, standing/remaining)

गताwent/passed (elapsed)

तस्यof him/that (of his)

चand

अह्नःof the day

त्रिभागेनby/within a third part (three parts as a measure)

क्षयम्to destruction/end (exhaustion)

जग्मुःwent/reached

पतत्त्रिणःarrows (lit. fliers)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

arrows (patattriṇaḥ)

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?

Even in a dharmic battlefield context, sustained violence consumes finite resources and reveals human limits; prowess is not inexhaustible, and time steadily brings every effort to an end.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a warrior has been continuously shooting arrows for four days and one night, and that within a short fraction of the day (three fifteenths) his entire stock of arrows becomes depleted.