Shloka 17

Devanagari script

कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान्‌ नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्‌

Transliteration

kārṣṇāyasatanu-trāṇān narāśva-ratha-kuñjarān

Translation

Sañjaya said: (They beheld) men, horses, chariots, and elephants protected by iron cuirasses—an image of war’s hardening of bodies and minds, where life is preserved not by compassion but by armor and force.

Word by Word

• कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान्: iron body-armor (cuirasses)
• कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्ष्णायस-तनुत्राण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्: men, horses, chariots, and elephants
• नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर-अश्व-रथ-कुञ्जर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• iron armor (kārṣṇāyasa-tanu-trāṇa)
• men (nara)
• horses (aśva)
• chariots (ratha)
• elephants (kuñjara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim ethic of battlefield survival: protection is sought through material defenses (iron armor) and organized force (men, horses, chariots, elephants). It implicitly contrasts the necessity of martial preparedness with the moral cost of a world where safety depends on weaponry rather than restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene in Drona Parva: the combatants and their war-machines—infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants—are arrayed and armored in iron, emphasizing the scale and intensity of the fighting.