Shloka 48

नारायणास्त्र-शमनं द्रौणि-प्रहारश्च

Pacification of the Nārāyaṇāstra and Drauni’s Renewed Assault

Devanagari script

अवधीत्‌ समरे पुत्र पिता भरतसत्तम

Transliteration

avadhīt samare putraḥ pitā bharatasattama

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—समरे घोरसङ्ग्रामे पुत्रः पितरमवधीत्तदा, भरतसत्तम; स्वधर्मविपर्ययः सञ्जज्ञे, यत्र युद्धमोहात् स्वजनाः स्वजनान् निघ्नन्ति।

Word by Word

• अवधीत्: killed, slew
• Type: Verb
• Root: वध्
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथम, एकवचनम्

• समरे: in battle
• समरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समर
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्

• पुत्रम्: the son
• पुत्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्

• पिता: the father
• पिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्

• भरतसत्तम: O best of the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरतसत्तम
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, एकवचनम्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by the address 'bharatasattama')
• son (unnamed)
• father (unnamed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral collapse that prolonged war can cause: even the most fundamental bonds—between father and son—can be overturned, warning that violence corrodes dharma and natural human obligations.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, during the fighting, a son killed his own father—an episode presented as a shocking sign of the battle’s extremity and the breakdown of familial restraint.