Shloka 27

Devanagari script

यद्यजस््रं समागच्छेद्‌ यथा बाणो गुणच्युत:

Transliteration

yadyajasraṃ samāgacched yathā bāṇo guṇacyutaḥ

Translation

Vyāsa dit : «Quand bien même on se rejoindrait encore et encore, ce serait comme une flèche qui a glissé hors de la corde de l’arc»—image qui signifie que, le lien porteur ou la discipline une fois perdus, l’effort répété manque de maîtrise et n’atteint pas sûrement sa cible.

Word by Word

• यद्: which/that (what)
• यद्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• यजस्रम्: continually, incessantly
• यजस्रम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यजस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• समागच्छेत्: should come together/should reach
• समागच्छेत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + गम् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथम, एकवचन

• यथा: as, just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)

• बाणः: arrow
• बाणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• गुणच्युतः: released from the bowstring
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गुणच्युत (प्रातिपदिक; च्युत = √च्यु (to fall) क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• arrow (bāṇa)
• bowstring (guṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that without the sustaining ‘string’ of discipline, restraint, or proper connection, repeated attempts at reunion or action become ineffective—like an arrow no longer guided by the bowstring, unable to be directed toward its rightful goal.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa uses a compact simile within the Śānti Parva’s ethical instruction: he compares a situation of repeated coming together (or repeated effort) to an arrow that has slipped from the bowstring, emphasizing loss of control and purposive direction.