Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 20

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

ख्याता दहदहा चैव तथा धमधमा नृप । खण्डखण्डा च राजेन्द्र पूषणा मणिकुट्टिका

Transliteration

khyātā dahadahā caiva tathā dhamadhamā nṛpa | khaṇḍakhaṇḍā ca rājendra pūṣaṇā maṇikuṭṭikā ||

Translation

वैशम्पायन उवाच—ख्याता दहदहा चैव तथा धमधमा नृप । खण्डखण्डा च राजेन्द्र पूषणा मणिकुट्टिका ॥

Word by Word

• ख्याता: well-known, famed
• ख्याता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ख्यात (ppp of √ख्या)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• दहदहा: ‘dahadahā’ (a named sound/cry; onomatopoeia)
• दहदहा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दहदहा (onomatopoetic noun)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

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

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• तथा: likewise, so
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• धमधमा: ‘dhamadhamā’ (a named sound/cry; onomatopoeia)
• धमधमा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धमधमा (onomatopoetic noun)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• नृप: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• खण्डखण्डा: broken into pieces, fragmentary
• खण्डखण्डा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: खण्डखण्ड (reduplicated stem from खण्ड)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

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

• राजेन्द्र: O lord of kings
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजेन्द्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पूषणा: by Pūṣan (the Sun-god)
• पूषणा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूषण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• मणिकुट्टिका: Maṇikuṭṭikā (a proper name; lit. ‘gem-crusher’)
• मणिकुट्टिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणिकुट्टिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• nṛpa (the king addressed)
• Dahadahā
• Dhamadhamā
• Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā
• Pūṣaṇā
• Maṇikuṭṭikā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a stark reminder that war is not a single act but an expanding system of harm: even the named instruments of battle embody burning, pounding, and fragmentation, pointing to how violence proliferates and deepens suffering when dharma is eclipsed by hostility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is enumerating notable weapons or missiles present in the conflict, listing them by their traditional names—Dahadahā, Dhamadhamā, Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā, Pūṣaṇā, and Maṇikuṭṭikā—within the broader war narrative of the Śalya Parva.