Shloka 18

द्रोण–सात्यकि-युद्धम्

Droṇa–Sātyaki Engagement

Devanagari script

विसूताश्वध्वजा: पेतु: संछिन्नायुधजीविता: । रथिनो रथमुख्येभ्य: सहसा शरपीडिता:,अर्जुनके बाणोंसे पीड़ित हुए बहुतेरे रथी सारथि, अश्व, ध्वज, अस्त्र-शस्त्र और प्राणोंसे भी वंचित हो सहसा श्रेष्ठ रथोंसे नीचे जा गिरे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | visūtāśvadhvajāḥ petuḥ sañchinnāyudhajīvitāḥ | rathino rathamukhyebhyaḥ sahasā śarapīḍitāḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。アルジュナの矢に打ち倒され、多くの戦車武者が最上の戦車からたちまち落ちた――御者も馬も旗印も失い、武器は断たれ砕け、命そのものさえ断ち切られた。

Word by Word

विसूताश्वध्वजाःcharioteers, horses, and banners (standards)

पेतुःfell

संछिन्नायुधजीविताःwhose weapons and lives were cut off/destroyed

रथिनःchariot-warriors

रथमुख्येभ्यःfrom the foremost/best chariots

सहसाsuddenly, all at once

शरपीडिताःtormented/wounded by arrows

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Arjuna

rathinaḥ (chariot-warriors)

ratha (chariot)

sūta (charioteer)

aśva (horses)

dhvaja (banner/standard)

āyudha (weapons)

śara (arrows)

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 sudden collapse of worldly supports—status, equipment, and even life—under the force of war. Ethically, it presses the listener to recognize battle’s grave cost: martial excellence can be awe-inspiring, yet its immediate fruit is destruction, urging sobriety about violence even within kṣatriya duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna’s arrows are striking the opposing chariot-warriors so fiercely that many fall at once from their best chariots, with charioteers, horses, banners, and weapons disabled or destroyed, and with lives being cut short.