Shloka 17

द्रोण–सात्यकि-युद्धम्

Droṇa–Sātyaki Engagement

Devanagari script

तै: सम्यगस्तैर्बलिना कृतिना चित्रयोधिना । मनुष्यवाजिमातज्ज विद्धा: पेतुर्गतासव:,विचित्र रीतिसे युद्ध करनेवाले अस्त्रवेत्ता महाबली अर्जुनके द्वारा भलीभाँति चलाये हुए उन बाणोंसे घायल हो बहुत-से मनुष्य, घोड़े और हाथी प्राणशून्य होकर पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े

Transliteration

taiḥ samyag astair balinā kṛtinā citrayodhinā | manuṣyavājimātaṅgā viddhāḥ petur gatāsavaḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。剛力にして成就したアルジュナ—妙なる戦いの型に通じた達人—が放った、狙い澄ました矢に正しく射抜かれ、多くの人々、馬、象は命の息を失い、大地に倒れ伏した。この句は戦の陰鬱な倫理的重みを示す。武の熟達と精確さは決定的な成果をもたらすが、そのぶん戦場の死をも増し広げるのである。

Word by Word

तैःby those (arrows)

सम्यक्properly, well

तैःby those

बलिनाby the mighty one

कृतिनाby the skilled/accomplished one

चित्रयोधिनाby the wondrous fighter

मनुष्यmen

वाजिhorses

मातङ्गाःelephants

विद्धाःpierced, wounded

पेतुःfell

गतासवःlifeless, having departed life

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Arjuna

arrows/missiles (astra)

men (warriors)

horses

elephants

earth/ground (pṛthivī implied)

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 the double-edged nature of martial excellence: precision and strength achieve battlefield aims, but they also intensify destruction, reminding the listener of the heavy ethical cost borne in righteous war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Arjuna’s well-aimed missiles strike effectively, causing many combatants—along with horses and elephants—to fall dead on the battlefield.