Shloka 16

Devanagari script

तमभ्यधावत्‌ कौन्तेय: प्रगृह्य सशरं धनु:

Transliteration

tam abhyadhāvat kaunteyaḥ pragṛhya saśaraṃ dhanuḥ

Translation

Disse Vaiśaṃpāyana: Então o filho de Kuntī correu para ele, empunhando o arco com as flechas já prontas—avançando com determinação urgente em meio à violência do pós-guerra, decidido a enfrentar a ameaça de frente.

Word by Word

तम्him

अभ्यधावत्ran towards / charged at

कौन्तेयःthe son of Kuntī (Kauṇteya)

प्रगृह्यhaving seized / taking up

सशरम्with an arrow / arrow-fitted

धनुःbow

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kaunteya (son of Kuntī, i.e., Arjuna)

bow (dhanuḥ)

arrows (śara)

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 decisive kṣatriya response to imminent danger: when adharma erupts in the chaos after battle, a protector must act swiftly—yet the broader Sauptika context also presses the ethical question of how far retaliation should go once war’s boundaries have collapsed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Kaunteya (understood here as Arjuna) charges toward the opponent, taking up his bow already furnished with arrows, signaling immediate readiness for confrontation in the tense events of the Sauptika episode.