Shloka 33

अभिमन्युवधः

Abhimanyu’s Fall and the Battlefield Aftermath

Devanagari script

शेषास्तु च्छिन्नधन्वानं शरवर्षरवाकिरन्‌ । त्वरमाणास्त्वराकाले विरथं षण्महारथा:

Transliteration

śeṣās tu cchinnadhanvānaṃ śaravarṣa-ravākiran | tvaramāṇās tvarākāle virathaṃ ṣaṇmahārathāḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。残る六人の大車戦士たちは、彼の弓が断たれたのを見るや、切迫したその時に急ぎ、いまや戦車を失った戦士へと、轟く矢の雨を浴びせかけた。

Word by Word

• शेषाः: the remaining (ones)
• शेषाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शेष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तु: but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• च्छिन्नधन्वानम्: him whose bow was cut off
• च्छिन्नधन्वानम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: च्छिन्नधन्वन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शरवर्षरवाकिरन्: they showered (him) with the roar of a rain of arrows
• Type: Verb
• Root: शरवर्षरवाकिर्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural

• त्वरमाणाः: hastening
• त्वरमाणाः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्वर्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Śatṛ (present active participle)

• त्वराकाले: at the time of haste
• त्वराकाले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वराकाल
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• विरथम्: without a chariot; chariotless
• विरथम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विरथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• षण्महारथाः: the six great chariot-warriors
• षण्महारथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: षण्महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• six mahārathas (unnamed)
• a disarmed warrior (bow cut)
• arrows
• chariot (as the lost support, implied by viratha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, advantage is seized instantly when an opponent is disarmed; it invites reflection on the tension between the drive to win and the ideals of fair combat (kṣatriya-dharma) when a warrior becomes vulnerable.

What is happening in the narrative?

After a fighter’s bow is cut, six great chariot-warriors rush in and bombard the now chariotless opponent with a loud, dense shower of arrows, as narrated by Sañjaya.