Shloka 17

Devanagari script

कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान्‌ नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्‌

Transliteration

kārṣṇāyasatanu-trāṇān narāśva-ratha-kuñjarān

Translation

कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान् नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्।

Word by Word

• कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान्: iron body-armor (cuirasses)
• कार्ष्णायसतनुत्राणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्ष्णायस-तनुत्राण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्: men, horses, chariots, and elephants
• नराश्वरथकुञ्जरान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर-अश्व-रथ-कुञ्जर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• iron armor (kārṣṇāyasa-tanu-trāṇa)
• men (nara)
• horses (aśva)
• chariots (ratha)
• elephants (kuñjara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim ethic of battlefield survival: protection is sought through material defenses (iron armor) and organized force (men, horses, chariots, elephants). It implicitly contrasts the necessity of martial preparedness with the moral cost of a world where safety depends on weaponry rather than restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene in Drona Parva: the combatants and their war-machines—infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants—are arrayed and armored in iron, emphasizing the scale and intensity of the fighting.