Shloka 33

अभिमन्युवधः

Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath

Devanagari script

शेषास्तु च्छिन्नधन्वानं शरवर्षरवाकिरन्‌ । त्वरमाणास्त्वराकाले विरथं षण्महारथा:

Transliteration

śeṣās tu cchinnadhanvānaṃ śaravarṣa-ravākiran | tvaramāṇās tvarākāle virathaṃ ṣaṇmahārathāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Les grands guerriers de char restants, le voyant l’arc tranché, se hâtèrent et, en cet instant pressant, déversèrent sur le combattant désormais sans char une pluie de flèches rugissante.

Word by Word

शेषाःthe remaining (ones)

तुbut

च्छिन्नधन्वानम्him whose bow was cut off

शरवर्षरवाकिरन्they showered (him) with the roar of a rain of arrows

त्वरमाणाःhastening

त्वराकालेat the time of haste

विरथम्without a chariot; chariotless

षण्महारथाःthe six great chariot-warriors

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

six mahārathas (unnamed)

a disarmed warrior (bow cut)

arrows

chariot (as the lost support, implied by viratha)

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, advantage is seized instantly when an opponent is disarmed; it invites reflection on the tension between the drive to win and the ideals of fair combat (kṣatriya-dharma) when a warrior becomes vulnerable.

What is happening in the narrative?

After a fighter’s bow is cut, six great chariot-warriors rush in and bombard the now chariotless opponent with a loud, dense shower of arrows, as narrated by Sañjaya.