Shloka 58

अजिशीर्षे प्रातःसंध्यायां संग्रामवर्णनम् / Dawn-Transition Battle at Ajiśīrṣa

Chapter 161

Devanagari script

शरवष्टिं तु तां मुक्तां सूतपुत्रेण भारत

Transliteration

śaravaṣṭiṁ tu tāṁ muktāṁ sūtaputreṇa bhārata

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。「おおバーラタよ、その矢の一斉射は御者の子によって放たれた。戦の道義の気配の中で、この一句は、決定的な暴力が個の意思に帰せられることを示す—武器を放つ一度一度が意図ある選択であり、混乱のただ中で責任の重みをいよいよ増すのだ。」

Word by Word

• शरवष्टिम्: a javelin/spear (śara-rod/weapon)
• शरवष्टिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरवष्टि
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• ताम्: that (her/it)
• ताम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• मुक्ताम्: released/shot
• मुक्ताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुक्त
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सूतपुत्रेण: by the charioteer's son (Karna)
• सूतपुत्रेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूतपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• भारत: O Bhārata
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa (Sūtaputra)
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Bhārata, addressee)
• śaravaṣṭi (volley of arrows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in a vast war where events seem impersonal, the text highlights personal agency: a specific warrior chooses to unleash force, and that choice carries moral and karmic weight.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a particular ‘shower of arrows’ was discharged by the Sūtaputra—i.e., Karṇa—marking an intense moment of battlefield assault.