Shloka 5

कर्णपर्व — चतुर्दशोऽध्यायः

Arjuna’s Suppression of the Saṃśaptakas; Kṛṣṇa’s Strategic Admonition; Battlefield Inventory

Devanagari script

शरै: शरांस्ततो द्रौणि: संवार्य युधि पाण्डवम्‌ । ललाटे< भ्याहनद्‌ राजन्‌ नाराचेन स्मयन्निव

Transliteration

śaraiḥ śarāṁs tato drauṇiḥ saṁvārya yudhi pāṇḍavam | lalāṭe 'bhyāhanad rājan nārācena smayann iva ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Then Droṇa’s son, countering the Pāṇḍava in battle with a shower of arrows, struck him on the forehead with a nārāca shaft, as if smiling in contempt—an act that displays both martial mastery and the cruel pride that often shadows prowess in war.

Word by Word

• शरैः: with arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• शरान्: arrows
• शरान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• ततः: then; thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• द्रौणिः: Drauni (Aśvatthāman)
• द्रौणिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रौणि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• संवार्य: having checked/warded off
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-√वृ (वृणोति/वृ)
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• युधि: in battle
• युधि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: युध्
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• पाण्डवम्: the Pāṇḍava (Arjuna)
• पाण्डवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• ललाटे: on the forehead
• ललाटे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ललाट
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अभ्याहनत्: struck; smote
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-√हन्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• नाराचेन: with a steel-shafted arrow (nārāca)
• नाराचेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाराच
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• स्मयन्: smiling
• स्मयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्मि
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Drauṇi (Aśvatthāman)
• Pāṇḍava (unspecified)
• śara (arrows)
• nārāca (iron-tipped arrow)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how skill in battle can be accompanied by arrogance and derision; it implicitly warns that martial excellence (kṣatriya prowess) is ethically incomplete when colored by pride and cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi) counters the Pāṇḍava’s arrows in the fight and then lands a direct hit on his forehead with a nārāca arrow, described as if he were smiling—suggesting confident, even mocking dominance in that moment.