Shloka 653

Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam

Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32

Devanagari script

जघान चन्द्रवर्माणं बृहत्क्षत्रं च नैषधम्‌ । धष्टद्युम्नने भी श्रेष्ठ खड़ग और चमकीली ढाल लेकर चन्द्रवर्मा तथा निषधराज बृहत्क्षतका काम तमाम कर दिया

Transliteration

jaghāna candravarmāṇaṁ bṛhatkṣatraṁ ca naiṣadham | dhṛṣṭadyumnena bhī-śreṣṭha khaḍgaṁ ca camakīlīṁ ḍhālaṁ gṛhītvā candravarmā tathā naiṣadharājaḥ bṛhatkṣatraś ca kāmaṁ tamāmaṁ kṛtaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: O best of the Bhāratas, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, taking up his sword and a shining shield, struck down Candravarmā and also Bṛhatkṣatra, the king of the Niṣadhas. In the fierce ethics of battlefield duty, this verse marks the swift, decisive elimination of opposing leaders as part of the larger, relentless course of the war.

Word by Word

• जघान: slew/killed
• जघान: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्शभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथम, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• चन्द्रवर्माणम्: Chandravarman (proper name), as object
• चन्द्रवर्माणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: चन्द्रवर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• बृहत्क्षत्रम्: Brihatkshatra (proper name), as object
• बृहत्क्षत्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: बृहत्क्षत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• नैषधम्: the Nishadha (man/king) / belonging to Nishadha
• नैषधम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नैषध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• धृतराष्ट्र (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) [implied addressee of Sañjaya]
• धृष्टद्युम्न (Dhṛṣṭadyumna)
• चन्द्रवर्मा (Candravarmā)
• बृहत्क्षत्र (Bṛhatkṣatra)
• निषध (Niṣadha / Naiṣadha)
• खड्ग (sword)
• ढाल (shield)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between violence and duty: in war, a kṣatriya commander acts decisively against enemy leaders as part of his svadharma, even though the act is morally grave in ordinary life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Dhṛṣṭadyumna, armed with sword and a shining shield, kills two opponents—Candravarmā and Bṛhatkṣatra, identified with the Niṣadhas—during the fighting in Droṇa Parva.