Shloka 10

अभिमन्यु-पराक्रमवर्णनम्

Abhimanyu’s Prowess and the Duḥśāsana Engagement

Devanagari script

शल्यश्रातर्यथारुग्णे बहुशस्तस्य सैनिका: । कुलाधिवासनामानि श्रावयन्तो<र्जुनात्मजम्‌

Transliteration

śalyaśātrair yathārugṇe bahuśastasya sainikāḥ | kulādhivāsanāmāni śrāvayanto 'rjunātmajam ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: As attendants might call out the names of a patient pierced by many weapons, so the soldiers, crying out the names of their clans and ancestral lineages, kept calling to Arjuna’s son—an image that underscores how, amid the chaos of war, identity and kin-duty are invoked as a last refuge when life is slipping away.

Word by Word

• शल्यशस्त्रैः: with darts and weapons
• शल्यशस्त्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शल्यशस्त्र
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• यथा: as/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• रुग्णे: in/for one who is wounded/sick
• रुग्णे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुग्ण
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• बहुशः: many times/repeatedly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहुशः

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

• सैनिकाः: soldiers
• सैनिकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैनिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कुलाधिवासनामानि: names of family residences/lineage seats
• कुलाधिवासनामानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुलाधिवासनामन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• श्रावयन्तः: causing to be heard/reciting aloud
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रावयत्
• Form: Present, —, Plural, Parasmaipada, Present active participle (कर्तरि शतृ)

• अर्जुनात्मजम्: Arjuna's son (Abhimanyu)
• अर्जुनात्मजम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्जुनात्मज
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna
• Abhimanyu
• soldiers (sainikāḥ)
• clans/lineages (kula)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in extreme suffering and the moral disorientation of war, people cling to lineage and communal identity (kula-nāma) as a final anchor—suggesting both the power and the limits of social-dharmic markers when confronted with death.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene around Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu: soldiers are loudly calling out clan and ancestral names, likened to attendants addressing a grievously wounded patient, emphasizing Abhimanyu’s peril and the surrounding confusion and lament.