Shloka 41

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

पदातिहयसंघानां प्रयुतान्यर्बुदानि च | द्रोणेनैकेन नाराचैर्निर्भिन्नानि निशामुखे,उस प्रदोषकालमें अकेले द्रोणाचार्यने अपने नाराचोंद्वारा एक हजार हाथी, दस हजार रथ तथा लाखों-करोड़ों पैदल एवं घुड़सवार नष्ट कर दिये

Transliteration

padātihayasaṅghānāṁ prayutāny arbudāni ca | droṇenaikena nārācair nirbhinnāni niśāmukhe ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「夜の訪れに、ドローナはただ一人、ナラーチャの矢で歩兵と騎兵の大群を貫き砕いた——幾万、さらにはクロール（億）に及ぶほどである。さらに千の象と万の戦車をも打ち倒した。この偈は、戦場における力の恐るべき不均衡と、武の力がダルマに導かれた節度ある戦いではなく、ただの殺戮へと堕したときに負う道義の重さを示している。」

Word by Word

पदातिof foot-soldiers

हयof horses (cavalry)

संघानाम्of multitudes/hosts

प्रयुतानिten-thousands (units of 10,000)

अर्बुदानिhundred-millions/crores (arbuda-units)

चand

द्रोणेनby Droṇa

एकेनalone/by one (single-handedly)

नाराचैःwith iron arrows (nārācas)

निर्भिन्नानिpierced/cleft/destroyed

निशामुखेat the beginning of night (at dusk)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

nārāca (arrows)

padāti (infantry)

haya (cavalry)

elephants

chariots

niśāmukha (dusk/nightfall)

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 extraordinary martial power can overwhelm the norms of balanced combat; it invites reflection on dharma in war—prowess is admirable, yet mass destruction at dusk evokes the ethical burden and the tragic momentum of Kurukṣetra.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that at dusk Droṇa, fighting alone with nārāca arrows, devastates large formations of infantry and cavalry and destroys huge numbers of elephants and chariots, emphasizing the scale of carnage and Droṇa’s battlefield dominance.