Shloka 2

Devanagari script

मानवं वारुणाग्नेयं ब्राह्ममस्त्रं च वीर्यवान्‌ । ऐन्द्रं नारायणं चैव यस्मिन्‌ नित्यं प्रतिष्ठितम्‌,जिनमें मानव, वारुण, आग्नेय, ब्राह्म, ऐन्द्र और नारायण नामक अस्त्र सदा प्रतिष्ठित थे, उन धर्मात्मा आचार्यको धृष्टद्युम्नद्वारा अधर्मपूर्वक युद्धमें मारा गया सुनकर पराक्रमी अश्वृत्थामाने क्या कहा?

Transliteration

mānavaṁ vāruṇāgneyaṁ brāhmam astraṁ ca vīryavān | aindraṁ nārāyaṇaṁ caiva yasmin nityaṁ pratiṣṭhitam ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Ce puissant héros en qui demeuraient sans cesse l’arme humaine, l’arme de Varuṇa, l’arme du Feu, l’arme de Brahmā, l’arme d’Indra et l’arme de Nārāyaṇa—lorsqu’on apprit qu’un tel Ācārya, homme de dharma, avait été tué au combat par Dhṛṣṭadyumna au moyen d’un stratagème injuste—que dit le vaillant Aśvatthāmā ?»

Word by Word

मानवम्the Mānavāstra (weapon named Mānavā)

वारुणVaruṇa’s (weapon)

आग्नेयम्Agni’s (weapon)

ब्राह्मम्Brahmā’s / Brahma (weapon)

अस्त्रम्weapon, missile

चand

वीर्यवान्possessing prowess; mighty

ऐन्द्रम्Indra’s (weapon)

नारायणम्Nārāyaṇa (weapon)

चand

एवindeed, just

यस्मिन्in whom / in which

नित्यम्always

प्रतिष्ठितम्established, stationed

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Droṇa (Ācārya)

Dhṛṣṭadyumna

Aśvatthāmā

Mānava astra

Vāruṇa astra

Āgneya astra

Brāhma astra

Aindra astra

Nārāyaṇa astra

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 verse frames a moral shock: even a preceptor renowned for spiritual merit and mastery of divine weapons can be brought down when warfare abandons righteous norms. It highlights the epic’s tension between martial necessity and dharma, and foreshadows how perceived adharma provokes cycles of vengeance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya to recount Aśvatthāmā’s response upon hearing that Droṇa—described as ever-endowed with many powerful astras—was killed in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna through an unrighteous stratagem.