Shloka 15

भीष्मस्य जलप्रार्थना — अर्जुनस्य पर्जन्यास्त्रप्रयोगः — दुर्योधनं प्रति सन्ध्युपदेशः

Bhīṣma’s request for water; Arjuna’s Parjanya-astra; counsel to Duryodhana on reconciliation

Devanagari script

सैन्धवस्य तथाश्रांश्व॒ सारथिं च त्रिभि: शरै: | प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय कालान्तकसमद्युति:

Transliteration

Saindhavasya tathāśvān sārathiṁ ca tribhiḥ śaraiḥ | prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya kālāntaka-samadyutiḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。ついでビーマセーナは、劫末に時を断つヤマのごとく輝き、三本の矢をもって、シンドゥ国王ジャヤドラタの馬と御者とを死の国へ送り去った。戦の道義が揺らぐこの空気の中で、この偈は、戦場における死の冷厳な必然と、ダルマが武力抗争へと崩れ落ちるとき、武人が時そのもののような苛烈さを帯びることを示している。

Word by Word

• सैन्धवस्य: of Jayadratha (the Sindhu king)
• सैन्धवस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्धव
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• तथा: also/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• अश्वान्: horses
• अश्वान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• सारथिम्: charioteer
• सारथिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सारथि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• त्रिभिः: with three
• त्रिभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

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

• प्राहिणोत्: sent/consigned
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-हि (धातु: हि/हिणोति)
• Form: Lung (Aorist), Past (Aorist), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मृत्युलोकाय: to the world of Death (death-realm)
• मृत्युलोकाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्युलोक
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• कालान्तकसमद्युतिḥ: he whose splendor was like Yama (the ender at time’s end)
• कालान्तकसमद्युतिḥ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कालान्तक-सम-द्युति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Saindhava (Jayadratha)
• Sindhu (as Jayadratha’s realm/identity)
• Bhīmasena
• Yama (implied by kālāntaka and mṛtyuloka)
• horses
• charioteer
• arrows
• Mṛtyuloka (realm of death)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inexorable power of Time and Death in war: when conflict escalates, even attendants and animals become casualties, and a warrior can appear as an instrument of fate. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s sober view that adharma-driven war consumes all, not only principal combatants.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that Bhīmasena, blazing like the destroyer at the end of time, strikes with three arrows and kills (or fatally dispatches) Jayadratha’s horses and charioteer, sending them to Mṛtyuloka.