Shloka 43
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
Devanagari script
तमर्जुन: पृषत्कानां शतेन भरतर्षभ
Transliteration
tam arjunaḥ pṛṣatkānāṁ śatena bharatarṣabha
Translation
Sañjaya disse: Ó touro entre os Bhāratas, Arjuna o atingiu com cem flechas—imagem de uma resolução marcial implacável em meio aos deveres sombrios da guerra.
Word by Word
तम्him
तम्:
Karma
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
अर्जुनःArjuna
अर्जुनः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootअर्जुन
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
पृषत्कानाम्of arrows (spears/shafts)
पृषत्कानाम्:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootपृषत्क
FormMasculine, Genitive, Plural
शतेनwith a hundred
शतेन:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootशत
FormNeuter, Instrumental, Singular
भरतर्षभO bull of the Bharatas
भरतर्षभ:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootभरतर्षभ
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
A
ArjunaB
Bharatarṣabha (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)A
arrows (pṛṣatka)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
The verse underscores kṣatriya-dharma in its starkest form: disciplined force applied in battle as a duty, not as personal cruelty—Sañjaya’s report frames the action as part of the larger moral burden of war.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna showers the opponent (referred to as 'him') with a hundred arrows, indicating an intense exchange and Arjuna’s decisive martial pressure in the Shalya Parva battle sequence.