Shloka 42

Devanagari script

सहसतं नरसिंहानां द्विसाहस्नं च दन्तिनाम्‌ । द्रोणो ब्रह्मास्त्रयोगेन प्रेषयामास मृत्यवे,द्रोणाचार्यने ब्रह्मास्त्रके प्रयोगद्वारा मनुष्योंमें सिंहके समान पराक्रमी एक हजार श्रेष्ठ योद्धाओं तथा दो हजार हाथियोंको मौतके हवाले कर दिया

Transliteration

sahasraṁ narasiṁhānāṁ dvisāhasraṁ ca dantinām | droṇo brahmāstrayogena preṣayāmāsa mṛtyave ||

Translation

クリパは言った。「ドローナはブラフマー・アストラを用い、人の中の獅子のごとき勇士一千と、象二千を死へと送り去った。」

Word by Word

सहस्रम्a thousand

नरसिंहानाम्of man-lions (lion-like men/warriors)

द्विसहस्रम्two thousand

चand

दन्तिनाम्of elephants

द्रोणःDrona

ब्रह्मास्त्रयोगेनby the employment/use of the Brahmāstra

प्रेषयामासsent/consigned

मृत्यवेto death

Speaker

कृप उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kṛpa

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

Brahmāstra

warriors (narasiṁhāḥ)

elephants (dantinaḥ)

Death (Mṛtyu, as destination)

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 the moral peril of deploying extraordinary, ‘divine’ force in human conflict: it can produce massive, disproportionate destruction. It implicitly invites reflection on restraint (saṁyama) and responsibility (dharma) even amid the obligations of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛpa reports that Droṇa, using the Brahmāstra, caused enormous casualties—killing a thousand elite, lion-like warriors and two thousand elephants—indicating a fierce and escalating phase of the battle.