Shloka 41

Devanagari script

वध्यमान तु तत्‌ सैन्यं पाण्डुपुत्रेण धन्विना

Transliteration

vadhyamānaṃ tu tat sainyaṃ pāṇḍuputreṇa dhanvinā

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。だがその軍勢は、弓を執るパーンドゥの子によって斬り伏せられていた――一人の戦士の鍛え抜かれた力が戦局を転じさせる、容赦なき武威の光景であり、同時に、戦の義務と殺戮の人間的代償とのあいだに横たわる倫理の緊張を浮かび上がらせる。

Word by Word

• वध्यमानम्: being slain / being killed
• वध्यमानम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वध्यमान (√वध्)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but / indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सैन्यम्: army
• सैन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• पाण्डुपुत्रेण: by the son of Pandu
• पाण्डुपुत्रेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डुपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• धन्विना: by the archer / bowman
• धन्विना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धन्विन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna (son of Pāṇḍu)
• army (sainya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim dharmic tension of righteous warfare: a kṣatriya’s duty may demand decisive action, yet the narrative keeps the moral weight of mass killing visible—victory is achieved through discipline and skill, but it carries grave human cost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the opposing force is being slaughtered by Arjuna, described succinctly as the bow-bearing son of Pāṇḍu, indicating Arjuna’s dominance at this moment in the Karṇa Parva battle sequence.