Shloka 413

Devanagari script

किरतां शरवर्षाणि स नाग: पर्यवर्तत । बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए भयंकर धनुर्धर रथियोंका मण्डल उस हाथीपर सब ओरसे आक्रमण कर रहा था और वह हाथी चारों ओर चक्कर काट रहा था

Transliteration

kiratāṁ śaravarṣāṇi sa nāgaḥ paryavartata |

Translation

Sañjaya said: As showers of arrows were hurled, that elephant kept wheeling about. A fearsome ring of bow-armed chariot-warriors attacked it from every side, pressing the assault without pause—an image of war’s relentless encirclement and the crushing force of coordinated violence.

Word by Word

• किरताम्: of (those) scattering / showering
• किरताम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: किरत् (किर् धातु, शतृ-प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुं, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• शरवर्षाणि: showers of arrows
• शरवर्षाणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरवर्ष (शर + वर्ष)
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• सः: he / that one
• सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• नागः: elephant
• नागः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• पर्यवर्तत: turned around / revolved
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (परि + आ + वृत्)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथम, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• elephant (nāga)
• arrows (śara)
• chariot-warriors (rathin)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war amplifies coordinated aggression: when many act together, even a powerful being is driven into frantic motion. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty in battle and the stark suffering produced by relentless, collective violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes an elephant under intense missile-fire. Chariot-warriors form a surrounding circle and attack from all directions, while the elephant keeps turning and circling, trying to respond or escape amid the arrow-rain.