Shloka 24

Devanagari script

हत्वा विंशतिसाहस्रान्‌ क्षत्रियानरिमर्दन: । दशायुतानि करिणामवधीद्‌ विशिखै: शितै:,शत्रुमर्दन द्रोणने वहाँ बीस हजार क्षत्रियोंका संहार करके अपने तीखे बाणोंद्वारा एक लाख हाथियोंका वध कर डाला

Transliteration

hatvā viṁśatisāhasrān kṣatriyān arimardanaḥ | daśāyutāni kariṇām avadhīd viśikhaiḥ śitaiḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。敵を砕くドローナは、刹帝利二万を討ち果たしたのち、鋭い矢でさらに幾万もの戦象を射倒した。この偈は、戦の破壊がいかに恐るべき規模に達するかを示す—武勇は殺傷の効率として現れるが、夥しい命の喪失ゆえに道義の影を免れない。

Word by Word

• हत्वा: having slain
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपद-भाव (active sense)

• विंशति: twenty
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विंशति (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: —, —, —, numeral used as first member of compound

• साहस्रान्: thousands (i.e., twenty-thousands)
• साहस्रान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• क्षत्रियान्: Kshatriyas, warriors
• क्षत्रियान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• अरिमर्दनः: the foe-crusher (epithet)
• अरिमर्दनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरिमर्दन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• दश: ten
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: —, —, —, numeral used as first member of compound

• अयुतानि: ayutas (ten-thousands); here: ten ayutas = one hundred thousand
• अयुतानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अयुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• करिणाम्: of elephants
• Type: Noun
• Root: करिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• अवधीत्: slew, killed
• Type: Verb
• Root: वध् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (imperfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथम, एकवचन

• विशिखैः: with arrows
• विशिखैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विशिख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• शितैः: sharp
• शितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, तृतीया, बहुवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kṣatriya warriors
• Elephants
• Arrows (viśikha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the paradox of kṣatriya valor: martial prowess is praised through epithets like arimardana, yet the staggering numbers of slain warriors and elephants implicitly raise the ethical weight of war—how duty-driven combat can still entail catastrophic suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a formidable warrior (addressed as ‘enemy-crusher’) has killed twenty thousand Kṣatriyas and then, using sharp arrows, has also slaughtered vast numbers of elephants, emphasizing the ferocity and scale of the fighting in the Droṇa Parva.