Shloka 41

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 114 — Karṇa–Bhīmasena Missile Exchange, Disarmament, and Arjuna’s Intervention

Devanagari script

तेन सम्भाविता नित्यं परवीर्योपजीविना

Transliteration

tena sambhāvitā nityaṃ paravīryopajīvinā

Translation

Sañjaya said: Ever honored and sustained by him—one who lived by relying on the prowess of others—(they continued in that dependent relationship). The line underscores an ethically fraught dependence: prestige and livelihood gained not through one’s own merit, but through attachment to another’s strength, a pattern that war repeatedly exposes and punishes.

Word by Word

• तेन: by him/thereby
• तेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• सम्भाविता: honoured/respected
• सम्भाविता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्भावित (सम् + भावय्)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• परवीर्योपजीविना: by one who lives on another's prowess
• परवीर्योपजीविना: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परवीर्योपजीविन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral risk of living on borrowed power: honor and security gained through dependence on another’s strength can erode autonomy and dharmic integrity, especially in the pressures of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues describing a relationship or situation in which someone is continually honored/maintained by another person characterized as ‘living by others’ valor,’ indicating patronage, dependence, and the social dynamics that shape conduct on the battlefield.