Shloka 143

Devanagari script

रश्मिभिर्भास्करो राजंस्तमांसीव समन्तत: । प्रजापालक नरेश! जैसे सूर्य अपनी किरणोंद्वारा चारों ओरके अन्धकारको दूर कर देते हैं, उसी प्रकार द्रोणाचार्य वहाँ क्षत्रियोंके प्राण लेने लगे

Transliteration

raśmibhir bhāskaro rājan tamāṃsīva samantataḥ | prajā-pālaka nareśa! yathā sūryaḥ sva-raśmibhiś caturdiśaṃ tamaḥ apanayati, tathā droṇācāryo tatra kṣatriyāṇāṃ prāṇān apāharat |

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಓ ರಾಜನೇ, ಪ್ರಜಾಪಾಲಕ ನರೇಶನೇ! ಸೂರ್ಯನು ತನ್ನ ಕಿರಣಗಳಿಂದ ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆಗಿನ ಅಂಧಕಾರವನ್ನು ದೂರಮಾಡುವಂತೆ, ದ್ರೋಣಾಚಾರ್ಯನು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯರ ಪ್ರಾಣಗಳನ್ನು ಹರಣಮಾಡತೊಡಗಿದನು.

Word by Word

रश्मिभिःby (his) rays

भास्करःthe sun

राजन्O king

तमांसिdarknesses (masses of darkness)

इवas/like

समन्ततःon all sides, all around

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address rājan/nareśa/prajā-pālaka)

Droṇācārya

Sūrya (the Sun, as simile)

Kṣatriyas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical tension of war: extraordinary brilliance and power (likened to the sun) can be turned toward destruction. It invites reflection on how dharma and royal/warrior duty can become morally fraught when the battlefield turns virtues like strength and skill into instruments of mass death.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that Droṇācārya is cutting down kṣatriya warriors on the battlefield. The comparison to the sun dispersing darkness emphasizes Droṇa’s overwhelming force and dominance in that moment of the war.