Shloka 24

Devanagari script

निष्कर्णामायसी स्थूलां सुपार्श्वा काउ्चनीं गदाम्‌ | शतघ्नीं शतनिर्हादां कथं शक्ष्यन्ति मे सुता:,उसकी लोहेकी गदा सीधी, मोटी, सुन्दर पार्श्चभागवाली और सुवर्णसे विभूषित है, वह शत-शत वज्रपातके समान बड़े जोरसे आवाज करती और एक ही चोटमें सैकड़ोंको मार डालती है। मेरे बेटे उसका आघात कैसे सह सकेंगे?

Transliteration

niṣkarṇāmāyasīṁ sthūlāṁ supārśvāṁ kāñcanīṁ gadām | śataghnīṁ śatanirghādāṁ kathaṁ śakṣyanti me sutāḥ ||

Translation

धृतराष्ट्र म्हणाला—त्याची लोखंडी गदा सरळ, जाड, सुबक पार्श्वभाग असलेली व सुवर्णाने अलंकृत आहे; तिचा नाद शतशः वज्रपातासारखा घुमतो आणि एका प्रहारात शेकडो जणांना पाडते. माझे पुत्र तिचा आघात कसा सहन करतील?

Word by Word

निष्कर्णाम्having projecting/extended ears/handles (lit. with 'niṣkarṇa')

आयसीम्made of iron

स्थूलाम्thick, massive

सुपार्श्वाम्having fine sides/flanks

काञ्चनीम्golden, adorned with gold

गदाम्mace

शतघ्नीम्a 'hundred-slayer' weapon; deadly mace/club

शतनिर्हादाम्having a hundredfold roar/resounding greatly

कथम्how

शक्ष्यन्तिwill be able

मेof me, my

सुताःsons

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

the Kauravas (my sons)

iron mace (gadā)

śataghnī (hundred-slaying weapon/epithet)

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?

Unchecked attachment (putra-sneha) clouds judgment and turns into fear when one supports adharma; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s worry highlights how violence, once unleashed, does not spare even those for whom it is undertaken.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war approaches, Dhṛtarāṣṭra hears of formidable weapons and warriors; he describes a terrifying, gold-adorned iron mace and anxiously asks how his sons could endure its crushing blow.