Shloka 22

अध्याय ३१ — द्रोणानीके तुमुलसंग्रामः

The Tumultuous Battle around Droṇa’s Formation

Devanagari script

तं पद्मनिकराकारं पद्मपत्रनिभेक्षणम्‌ | व्याकोशपदञ्माभमुखो नीलो विव्याध सायकै:,नीलका मुख विकसित कमलके समान कान्तिमान्‌ था। उन्होंने पद्मसमूहकी-सी आकृति तथा कमल-दलके सदृश नेत्रोंवाले अश्वत्थामाको अपने बाणोंसे बींध डाला

Transliteration

taṁ padmanikarākāraṁ padmapatranibhekṣaṇam | vyākośapadmābhavaktraṁ nīlo vivyādha sāyakaiḥ ||

Translation

तं पद्मनिकराकारं पद्मपत्रनिभेक्षणम् । व्याकोशपद्माभमुखो नीलो विव्याध सायकैः ॥

Word by Word

तम्him

पद्मनिकराकारम्having the form like a mass of lotuses

पद्मपत्रनिभेक्षणम्whose eyes are like lotus-petals

व्याकोशपद्माभमुखःhaving a face like a fully-bloomed lotus

नीलःNila (a warrior named Nīla)

विव्याधpierced

सायकैःwith arrows

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

न

नील (Nīla)

अ

अश्वत्थामा (Aśvatthāmā)

स

सायक (arrows)

प

पद्म (lotus)

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 juxtaposes auspicious, lotus-like beauty with the reality of battlefield injury, highlighting that in war (especially under kṣatriya-dharma) outcomes follow action and circumstance rather than outward grace; ethical reflection arises from seeing how violence touches even the illustrious.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the warrior Nīla shoots and pierces Aśvatthāmā with arrows, describing Aśvatthāmā through lotus-based similes (form, eyes, and face) to emphasize his striking appearance even amid combat.