Shloka 73

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 94: Sātyaki–Sudarśana Yuddha (सात्यकि–सुदर्शन युद्ध)

Devanagari script

निर्भग्न इव वातेन कर्णिकारो हिमात्यये । शेते सम निहतो भूमौ काम्बोजास्तरणोचित:

Transliteration

nirbhagna iva vātena karṇikāro himātyaye | śete sama nihato bhūmau kāmbojāstaraṇocitaḥ ||

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—हिमात्यये वातेन निर्भग्न इव कर्णिकारः, स समं निहतो भूमौ शेते; काम्बोजास्तरणोचितोऽपि रणभूमौ धरणीतले निपपात।

Word by Word

निर्भग्नःbroken, shattered

इवas if, like

वातेनby the wind

कर्णिकारःthe karnikāra tree

हिमात्ययेat the end of winter / when frost has passed

शेतेlies

समम्flat, level; evenly

निहतःslain, struck down

भूमौon the ground

काम्बोजthe Kāmboja (horse/warrior; here: a Kāmboja horse)

अस्तरणोचितःfit to be used as a bedding/covering (i.e., worthy of being spread as a cover)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

karṇikāra (tree)

Kāmboja (blanket/covering; people/region)

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 highlights the fragility of embodied life and the leveling power of death in war: status and luxury (symbolized by a Kāmboja blanket) cannot prevent one’s fall to the earth. It implicitly warns against pride and attachment to external honors amid the ethical gravity of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior lying dead on the battlefield, using a vivid simile: like a karṇikāra tree broken by wind when winter ends, the slain man lies stretched on the ground—someone who, in life, would have been worthy of fine bedding and comfort.