Shloka 32

भीमसेन–कर्णयुद्धवर्णनम्

Description of the Bhīmasena–Karṇa Engagement

Devanagari script

शितैरग्निशिखाकारैद्रौणिं विव्याध चाष्टभि: । इसके बाद भूरिश्रवाको तीन और शल्यको दस बाणोंसे बींधकर अग्निकी ज्वालाके समान आकारवाले आठ तीखे बाणोंद्वारा अश्वत्थामाको घायल कर दिया ।। गौतम॑ं पठ्चविंशत्या सैन्धवं च शतेन ह

Transliteration

śitair agniśikhākārair drauṇiṁ vivyādha cāṣṭabhiḥ |

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。炎の舌のような形をした鋭い八本の矢で、彼はドローナの子アシュヴァッターマン（ドローニ）を射抜き、戦場のただ中で傷を負わせた。

Word by Word

शितैःwith sharp (ones)

अग्नि-शिखा-आकारैःwith (arrows) having the form of a flame of fire

द्रौणिम्Drauni (Ashvatthaman)

विव्याधpierced/wounded

चand

अष्टभिःwith eight

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Aśvatthāman (Drauṇi)

Agni (fire, as simile)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, skill and anger can intensify into increasingly destructive retaliation; it implicitly invites reflection on dharma as restraint and responsibility, not merely victory through force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that a warrior strikes Aśvatthāman (Droṇa’s son) with eight sharp, flame-like arrows, injuring him amid the ongoing exchanges of missile warfare.