Shloka 6

जयद्रथवध-प्रतिज्ञा

Arjuna’s Vow to Neutralize Jayadratha

Devanagari script

अत्यन्तशत्रुरस्माकं येन दुःशासन: शरै: | क्षिप्रं हभिमुख: संख्ये विसंज्ञो विमुखीकृत:,“जिस वीर अर्जुनकुमारने युद्धस्थलमें हमारे अत्यन्त शत्रु द:ःशासनको सामने आनेपर शीघ्र ही अपने बाणोंसे अचेत करके भगा दिया, वही महासागरके समान दुस्तर द्रोणसेनाको पार करके भी दुःशासनपुत्रके पास जाकर यमलोकमें पहुँच गया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

atyantaśatrur asmākaṁ yena duḥśāsanaḥ śaraiḥ |

kṣipraṁ abhimukhaḥ saṅkhye visaṁjño vimukhīkṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “That warrior—our most implacable enemy—who, when Duḥśāsana faced him in battle, swiftly struck him with arrows, rendered him senseless, and drove him back… (now) having crossed the ocean-like, hard-to-pass army of Droṇa, he reached Duḥśāsana’s son and sent him to Yama’s realm.”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'atyanta-śatruḥ': 'an extreme/utter enemy

• implacable foe', 'asmākam': 'of us

• our', 'yena': 'by whom

• by which person', 'duḥśāsanaḥ': 'Duḥśāsana (a Kaurava prince)', 'śaraiḥ': 'with arrows', 'kṣipram': 'quickly

• swiftly', 'abhimukhaḥ': 'facing (him)

• confronting', 'saṅkhye': 'in battle

• in the fight', 'visaṁjñaḥ': 'unconscious

• senseless', 'vimukhīkṛtaḥ': 'turned away

• made to retreat', 'droṇa-senā': 'Droṇa’s army/host', 'sāgara-samam': 'like an ocean', 'dustaram': 'hard to cross

• formidable', 'pāraṁ kṛtvā': 'having crossed over', 'duḥśāsana-putra': 'son of Duḥśāsana', 'yama-loka': 'the world/realm of Yama (death)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duḥśāsana
• Droṇa
• Duḥśāsana’s son
• Yama
• arrows (śara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the relentless momentum of karmic consequence in war: a warrior’s prowess can swiftly reverse fortunes, and even formidable defenses (an ‘ocean-like’ army) cannot ultimately shield one destined to fall. Ethically, it reflects the grim kṣatriya world where duty and vengeance unfold through lethal action, with death framed as passage to Yama’s realm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Pandava-side hero (implied by the Hindi gloss as Arjuna’s son) had earlier struck Duḥśāsana unconscious and forced him to retreat. The same warrior then penetrates Droṇa’s formidable battle-array and reaches Duḥśāsana’s son, killing him—described as sending him to Yama’s world.