Shloka 1

Devanagari script

अपन क्रात बछ। हर: पजञज्चचत्वारिशो< ध्याय: हल ३8 के द्वारा सत्यश्रवा, क्षत्रियसमूह, रुक्मरथ तथा उसके मित्रगणों और सैकड़ों राजकुमारोंका वध और दुर्योधनकी पराजय संजय उवाच आददानस्तु शूराणामायुंष्यभवदार्जुनि: । अन्तकः सर्वभूतानां प्राणान्‌ काल इवागते,संजय कहते हैं--राजन! मृत्युकाल उपस्थित होनेपर जैसे यमराज समस्त प्राणियोंके प्राण हर लेते हैं, उसी प्रकार अर्जुनकुमार अभिमन्यु भी वीरोंकी आयुका अपहरण करते हुए उनके लिये यमराज ही हो गये थे इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत द्रोणपर्वके अन्तर्गत अभिमन्युवधपर्वमें दुर्योधनकी पराजयविषयक पैंतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ४५ ॥। ऑपनआक्राता बछ। अर: षट्चत्वारिशो5 ध्याय: अभिमन्युके द्वारा लक्ष्मण तथा क्राथपुत्रका वध और सेनासहित छ: महारथियोंका पलायन धृतराष्ट उवाच यथा वदसि मे सूत एकस्य बहुभि: सह । संग्रामं तुमुलं घोरं जयं चैव महात्मन:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

ādadanastu śūrāṇām āyuṁṣyabhavad arjuniḥ |

antakaḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ prāṇān kāla ivāgate ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, as Time at the moment of death seizes away the lives of all creatures, so did Arjuna’s son (Abhimanyu), taking away the span of life of the warriors, become for them like Death itself. The verse frames Abhimanyu’s prowess not as mere violence, but as the grim inevitability of fate operating through a heroic agent amid the moral catastrophe of war.

Word by Word

संजयःSanjaya

उवाचsaid

आददानःtaking away, seizing

तुindeed, but

शूराणाम्of the heroes

आयूंषिlifespans, lives

अभवत्became

अर्जुनिःArjuni (descendant of Arjuna; i.e., Abhimanyu)

अन्तकःDeath, the ender

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

प्राणान्life-breaths, lives

कालःTime (as Death)

इवlike, as

आगतेwhen (he) has come; upon arrival

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'rājan')

Abhimanyu (as Arjuna’s son)

Arjuna

Kāla (Time/Death)

Antaka/Yama (Death)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inevitability of death in war: when Time arrives, life is taken without exception. Abhimanyu’s battlefield effectiveness is portrayed as an instrument of that inevitability, reminding the listener that martial glory is inseparable from mortality and the larger workings of fate (kāla).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Abhimanyu is cutting down many warriors. His onslaught is compared to Death/Time itself, emphasizing the scale and unstoppable nature of his advance at this point in the battle.