Shloka 78

Devanagari script

ततस्ते विव्यधु: सर्वे द्रौणिं राजन्‌ महारथा: । युगपच्च पृथक्‌ चैव रुक्मपुड्खै: शिलाशितै:,राजन! तत्पश्चात्‌ उन सब महारथियोंने एक साथ और अलग-अलग भी शिलापर तेज किये हुए सुवर्णमय पंखवाले बाणोंद्वारा द्रोणकुमारको घायल करना आरम्भ किया

Transliteration

tataste vivyadhuḥ sarve drauṇiṃ rājan mahārathāḥ | yugapac ca pṛthak caiva rukmapuṅkhaiḥ śilāśitaiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Alors, ô Roi, tous ces grands guerriers de char se mirent à percer le fils de Droṇa : les uns le frappant de concert dans un assaut unique, les autres l’attaquant séparément, avec des flèches aux empennages d’or étincelants, dont les pointes avaient été aiguisées sur la pierre.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

तेthey

विव्यधुःpierced, wounded

सर्वेall

द्रौणिम्Drona's son (Ashvatthaman)

राजन्O king

महारथाःgreat chariot-warriors

युगपत्simultaneously

चand

पृथक्separately

चand

एवindeed, just

रुक्मपुड्खैःwith golden-feathered (arrows)

शिलाशितैःsharpened on a whetstone

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as rājan)

Drauṇi (Aśvatthāman, son of Droṇa)

mahārathāḥ (great chariot-warriors)

rukmapuṅkha arrows (golden-fletched arrows)

śilāśita (stone-whetted arrowheads)

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 highlights how, in war, coordinated strategy (yugapat) and individual valor (pṛthak) operate together; ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty and the grim reality that skill and unity can intensify violence against a single target.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that multiple elite warriors begin wounding Drauṇi (Aśvatthāman) with stone-sharpened, golden-fletched arrows—some attacking him simultaneously as a group and others engaging him one-on-one.