Shloka 28

Devanagari script

चलतस्तस्य कायात्‌ तु शिरो ज्वलितकुण्डलम्‌ | सोष्णीषं सशिरस्त्राणं क्षुरप्रेण त्वपातयद्‌,उसी अवस्थामें कृपाचार्यने एक क्षुरप्रद्धारा सुकेतुके जगमगाते हुए कुण्डलोंसे युक्त पगड़ी और शिरस्त्राणसहित मस्तकको उसकी काँपती हुई कायासे काट गिराया

Transliteration

calatastasya kāyāt tu śiro jvalitakuṇḍalam | soṣṇīṣaṃ saśirastrāṇaṃ kṣurapreṇa tvapātayat ||

Translation

ಅವನು ಇನ್ನೂ ಚಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗಲೇ, ಕೃಪಾಚಾರ್ಯನು ಕ್ಷುರಪ್ರ ಎಂಬ ಕ್ಷೌರಧಾರೆಯಂತಿರುವ ಬಾಣದಿಂದ, ಜ್ವಲಿಸುವ ಕುಂಡಲಗಳಿಂದ ಅಲಂಕರಿತವಾದ ಸುಕೇತುವಿನ ತಲೆಯನ್ನು—ಪಾಗಡಿ ಮತ್ತು ಶಿರಸ್ತ್ರಾಣ ಸಹಿತ—ಅವನ ನಡುಗುವ ದೇಹದಿಂದ ಕತ್ತರಿಸಿ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಬೀಳಿಸಿದನು।

Word by Word

चलतःof (him) moving

तस्यof him

कायात्from the body

तुbut/indeed

शिरःhead

ज्वलितकुण्डलम्with blazing earrings

सोष्णीषम्together with the turban

सशिरस्त्राणम्together with the head-armor/helmet

क्षुरप्रेणwith a razor-edged (arrow/weapon)

तुindeed

अपातयत्caused to fall / struck down

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

śiraḥ (head)

kuṇḍala (earrings)

uṣṇīṣa (turban/headdress)

śirastrāṇa (helmet/head-guard)

kṣurapra (razor-edged arrow/weapon)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inexorable nature of warfare and mortality: external marks of honor—ornaments and armor—cannot ultimately shield one from the consequences of combat and destiny. It implicitly warns against attachment to status and emphasizes the grave ethical weight of choosing the path of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates a battlefield moment where a warrior’s head, still adorned with shining earrings and protected by turban and helmet, is cut down from his moving body by a razor-edged missile (kṣurapra), dramatically signaling a decisive and lethal strike.