Shloka 10

Devanagari script

बाणपातनिकृत्तास्तु योधास्ते कुरुसत्तम

Transliteration

bāṇapātanikṛttās tu yodhās te kurusattama

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O best of the Kurus, those warriors were cut down by the shower of arrows.”

Word by Word

• बाणपातनिकृत्ताः: cut down by the fall/strike of arrows
• बाणपातनिकृत्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाणपातनिकृत्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• योधाः: warriors
• योधाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ते: those/they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कुरुसत्तम: O best of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुसत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Kurusattama)
• bāṇa (arrows)
• yodhāḥ (warriors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark moral weight of war: warriors, however valorous, can be swiftly destroyed by impersonal forces like massed volleys of arrows—highlighting the fragility of life and the grave consequences inherent in kṣatriya conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that in the ongoing battle, certain warriors have been struck down—cut to pieces—by a heavy shower of arrows, conveying the intensity and lethality of the fighting.