Shloka 11

Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)

Devanagari script

ते वध्यमाना: समरे पार्थनामाड्कितै: शरै:

Transliteration

te vadhyamānāḥ samare pārthanāmāṅkitaiḥ śaraiḥ

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「激戦のただ中で、彼らは『パールタ』の名を刻んだ矢に射倒されていた――その矢は放たれた主を告げ、殺戮の責めを曖昧にしない。ここには戦における責任の陰惨な明晰さがある。行いは匿名ではなく、戦士の主体は武器に公然と担われるのだ。」

Word by Word

• ते: they (those)
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वध्यमानाः: being slain / being struck down
• वध्यमानाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वध्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Present passive participle (शानच्), passive sense

• समरे: in battle
• समरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समर
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• पार्थनाम्: of the sons of Pṛthā (the Pāṇḍavas)
• पार्थनाम्: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• आड्कितैः: marked/engraved; (here) well-aimed/characterized
• आड्कितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आड्कित
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural, Past passive participle (क्त), adjectival

• शरैः: with arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pārtha (Arjuna)
• arrows (śara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid mass violence, action is owned: the arrows bear the warrior’s name, symbolizing clear agency and responsibility. The verse hints that dharma in war includes accountability—one cannot hide behind the chaos of battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes combatants being cut down in the battlefield by arrows identified as Pārtha’s, emphasizing the intensity of the fighting and the recognizable prowess of the archer whose missiles are striking them.