Shloka 54

Devanagari script

तथैवाधिरथिस्तस्य बाणाज्ज्वलिततेजस:

Transliteration

tathaivādhirathis tasya bāṇāj jvalita-tejasaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: In the same manner, Adhirathi too was struck by his blazing arrow—an act that shows how, in the fury of battle, warriors answer force with force, and the contest turns on disciplined skill rather than mere rage.

Word by Word

• तथा: thus, in the same manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• एव: indeed, just, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• अधिरथिः: Adhirathi (a warrior/king; proper name)
• अधिरथिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधिरथि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तस्य: of him, his
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• बाणात्: from the arrow
• बाणात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाण
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• ज्वलिततेजसः: of (one) whose splendor is blazing / of blazing radiance
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्वलित-तेजस्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Adhirathi
• arrow (bāṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the battlefield ethic of measured reciprocity: warriors respond in kind, and outcomes hinge on trained restraint and skill (kṣātra discipline) rather than uncontrolled anger.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Adhirathi is struck in the same fashion as previously described—by a blazing, powerful arrow—continuing the rapid exchange of missile-weapons in the Drona Parva battle scene.