Shloka 523

अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च

Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter

Devanagari script

कुर्वन्तो विविधान्‌ नादान्‌ वज़नुन्ना इवाचला: । कर्णके बाणोंसे आहत होकर समरांगणमें नाना प्रकारके आर्तनाद करते हुए वच्रके मारे हुए पर्वतोंके समान धराशायी हो रहे थे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | kurvanto vividhān nādān vajranunnā ivācalāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Dipanah oleh Karṇa, para pahlawan rebah di medan perang sambil mengeluarkan jeritan kesakitan yang bermacam-macam—bagaikan gunung-gunung yang dihancurkan oleh vajra, halilintar Indra.

Word by Word

• कुर्वन्तः: doing, making
• कुर्वन्तः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त), पुंल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• विविधान्: various
• विविधान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• नादान्: cries, sounds
• नादान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• वज्रनुन्नाः: struck/impelled by a thunderbolt
• वज्रनुन्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वज्र-नुन्न (प्रातिपदिक; नुद्-धातु से क्त)
• Form: क्त (भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृदन्त), पुंल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अचलाः: mountains
• अचलाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अचल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa
• arrows (bāṇa)
• vajra (Indra’s thunderbolt)
• battlefield (samara-aṅgaṇa, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the devastating human consequence of warfare: even the mighty fall and cry out in pain. It implicitly cautions that martial glory is inseparable from suffering, urging reflection on restraint, responsibility, and the ethical weight of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Karṇa’s effectiveness in battle: warriors struck by his arrows fall down on the field, making many kinds of anguished sounds, compared to mountains shattered by Indra’s thunderbolt.