Shloka 423

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 94: Sātyaki–Sudarśana Yuddha (सात्यकि–सुदर्शन युद्ध)

Devanagari script

विव्याध चैनं सप्तत्या नाराचानां महाबल: । साथ ही उन महारथी एवं महाबली वीरने उनके घोड़ों और सारथिको भी शीघ्रतापूर्वक मार डाला और सत्तर नाराचोंसे श्रुतायुधको भी घायल कर दिया

Transliteration

vivyādha cainaṃ saptatyā nārācānāṃ mahābalaḥ |

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಆ ಮಹಾಬಲವಂತನು ಅವನನ್ನು ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತು ನಾರಾಚ ಬಾಣಗಳಿಂದ ವಿದ್ಧಮಾಡಿದನು. ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಆ ಮಹಾರಥಿ, ಮಹಾಬಲಿ ವೀರನು ತಕ್ಷಣವೇ ಅವನ ಕುದುರೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಸಾರಥಿಯನ್ನೂ ಸಂಹರಿಸಿ, ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತು ನಾರಾಚಗಳಿಂದ ಶ್ರುತಾಯುಧನನ್ನೂ ಗಾಯಗೊಳಿಸಿದನು।

Word by Word

विव्याधpierced, wounded

चand

एनम्him

सप्तत्याwith seventy (as a set of seventy)

नाराचानाम्of iron arrows (narācas)

महाबलःthe mighty/strong one

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Śrutāyudha

nārāca (arrow)

horses

charioteer

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 harsh ethical reality of kṣatriya warfare: victory often depends on strategic disabling of an opponent’s means (horses, charioteer, chariot-function) as much as direct combat, underscoring how dharma in war operates within severe constraints and consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield episode in which a powerful warrior strikes an opponent with seventy nārāca arrows; in the same sequence, the opponent’s horses and charioteer are quickly killed, and Śrutāyudha is also wounded by seventy nārācas.