Shloka 80

अजिशीर्षे प्रातःसंध्यायां संग्रामवर्णनम् / Dawn-Transition Battle at Ajiśīrṣa

Chapter 161

Devanagari script

यावत्‌ पार्थशरैघेरिरनिर्मुक्तोरगसंनिभै: । न भस्मीक्रियते राजा तावद्‌ युद्धान्निवार्यताम्‌,'केंचुलसे छूटे हुए सर्पोके समान अर्जुनके भयंकर बाणोंद्वारा जबतक राजा दुर्योधन भस्म नहीं कर दिया जाता है, तबतक ही उसे युद्धसे रोक दो

Transliteration

yāvat pārtha-śaraiḥ ghoraiḥ anirmuktoraga-sannibhaiḥ | na bhasmīkriyate rājā tāvad yuddhān nivāryatām ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「王が、脱皮を終えた蛇のごときアルジュナの恐るべき矢によって灰と化されぬうちは、戦いへ入るのを止めよ。」

Word by Word

यावत्as long as / until

पार्थशरैःby Arjuna’s arrows

घोरैःterrible

अनिर्मुक्तोरगसंनिभैःlike snakes that have not cast off their slough

नnot

भस्मीक्रियतेis reduced to ashes / is burnt to ashes

राजाthe king

तावत्so long / until then

युद्धात्from the battle

निवार्यताम्let (him) be restrained / prevented

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pārtha (Arjuna)

the king (Duryodhana)

arrows (śara)

serpents (uraga)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights prudent counsel in war: when a leader faces overwhelming danger, restraint and strategic withdrawal can be ethically preferable to reckless persistence that leads to needless destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya warns that Arjuna’s arrows are so deadly—likened to serpents shedding their skin—that Duryodhana will be annihilated if he continues; therefore he urges that the king be held back from the fight until the immediate peril passes.