Mahabharata 7.97.42 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 97, Shloka 42

शैनेयचरितम्

The Exploits of Śaineya/Sātyaki amid Encirclement

Devanagari script

शकुनिस्तु सहानीको माद्रीपुत्रमवारयत्‌ । गान्धारकै:ः सप्तशतैश्लापशक्त्यसिपाणिशभि:

Transliteration

śakunistu sahānīko mādrīputram avārayat | gāndhārakaiḥ saptśataiḥ śarāpaśaktyasipāṇibhiḥ ||

Translation

Санджая сказал: Шакуни, поддержанный своим отрядом, остановил сына Мадри (Накулу). С ним стояли семьсот воинов Гандхары, вооруженных стрелами, копьями и мечами, — организованное сопротивление, поднятое, чтобы пресечь продвижение Накулы среди нравственного смятения войны.

Word by Word

• शकुनिः: Shakuni
• शकुनिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शकुनि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• सह: together with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सह

• अनीकः: with his troop/army (as a unit)
• अनीकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनीक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• माद्रीपुत्रम्: the son of Madri (Nakula)
• माद्रीपुत्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: माद्रीपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अवारयत्: checked/stopped/warded off
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृ (वारयति)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Śakuni
• Mādrī
• Nakula
• Gandhāra
• arrows (śara/āpa)
• spear/javelin (śakti)
• sword (asi)
• troops/contingent (anīka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, personal valor is met by organized force and strategy; it implicitly underscores the Kṣatriya world where resistance and counter-resistance are expected, even as the larger conflict tests dharma through alliances, tactics, and the escalation of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Śakuni confronts and restrains Nakula’s advance, doing so with a supporting detachment—seven hundred Gandhāra fighters armed with arrows, spears, and swords—forming a concentrated defensive/offensive block against Nakula.