Shloka 27

Devanagari script

नैतदावर्तते राजन्नस्त्र द्विनोपपद्यते | आवृतं हि निवर्तेत प्रयोक्तारं न संशय:,“राजन! न तो यह अस्त्र फिर लौटता है और न इसका दुबारा प्रयोग ही हो सकता है। यदि इसका पुन: प्रयोग किया जाय तो यह प्रयोग करनेवालेको ही समाप्त कर देगा, इसमें संशय नहीं है

Transliteration

naitad āvartate rājann astraṃ dvinopapadyate | āvṛtaṃ hi nivarteta prayoktāraṃ na saṃśayaḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「大王よ、この武器はひとたび放たれれば戻らず、二度と用いることもできぬ。もし引き返させよう、あるいは再び用いようとすれば、それは用いた者自身に跳ね返って滅ぼす——疑いはない。」

Word by Word

नnot

एतत्this (weapon/thing)

आवर्ततेreturns, comes back

राजन्O king

नnot

अस्त्रweapon (missile)

द्विःtwice, again

नnot

उपपद्यतेis possible, is feasible

आवृतम्turned back, reversed (i.e., if made to return)

हिindeed, for

निवर्तेतwould turn back/return

प्रयोक्तारम्the user (of the weapon), the one who employs it

नnot

संशयःdoubt

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

astra (divine weapon)

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?

Certain acts—especially the unleashing of extraordinary violence—cannot be safely undone or repeated. The verse stresses restraint and accountability: attempting to reverse or reapply such a weapon rebounds upon the agent, making the doer responsible for the consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya warns Dhṛtarāṣṭra about the nature of a powerful astra being used in the battle: once discharged it does not simply ‘come back,’ and trying to recall or reuse it is perilous, likely destroying the very person who employed it.