Shloka 28

Adhyāya 21 — Duryodhanasya bāṇavarṣaḥ

Duryodhana’s Arrow-Storm and the Dust-Obscured Engagements

Devanagari script

हताश्व॑ं च समालक्ष्य हतसूतमरिंदम

Transliteration

hatāśvaṃ ca samālakṣya hatasūtam ariṃdama

Translation

हताश्वं च समालक्ष्य हतसूतमरिंदम ।

Word by Word

• हताश्वम्: having (his) horses slain
• हताश्वम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत + अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• समालक्ष्य: having observed/seeing
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + √लक्ष्
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund), Parasmaipada

• हतसूतम्: having (his) charioteer slain
• हतसूतम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत + सूत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अरिंदम: the foe-subduer (enemy-tamer)
• अरिंदम: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरि + दम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• ariṃdama (epithet of the addressed king, typically Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a battlefield ethic: a warrior’s effectiveness depends on the integrity of his supports (horses, charioteer, order). When these are destroyed, the situation becomes a moral and strategic crisis, testing steadiness, judgment, and adherence to kṣatriya-dharma under sudden reversal.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a chariot is seen in a disabled state—its horses killed and its charioteer slain—signaling a decisive setback in the ongoing combat and setting up the next actions taken in response to that vulnerability.