Mahabharata 7.201.41 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

निक्षेप्स्यन्ति च शस्त्राणि वाहनेभ्यो5वरुहाू ये । (ये5ज्जलिं कुर्वते वीरा नमन्ति च विवाहना: ।) तान्नैतदस्त्रं संग्रामे निहनिष्यति मानवान्‌

Transliteration

nikṣepsyanti ca śastrāṇi vāhanebhyo 'varuhā ye | ye 'ñjaliṃ kurvate vīrā namanti ca vivāhanāḥ | tān naitad astraṃ saṅgrāme nihaniṣyati mānavān ||

Translation

వాహనముల నుండి దిగిపోయి శస్త్రాలను క్రింద వేయువారు, మరియు వాహనరహితులై అంజలి గట్టి నమస్కరించువారు—అటువంటి వీరులను ఈ అస్త్రము సంగ్రామములో హతముచేయదు।

Word by Word

• {'nikṣepsyanti': 'will cast down, will lay aside', 'śastrāṇi': 'weapons', 'vāhanebhyaḥ': 'from vehicles/mounts (chariots, etc.)', 'avaruhāḥ': 'having dismounted, having descended', 'ye': 'those who', 'añjalim kurvate': 'make añjali

• join palms in supplication/reverence', 'vīrāḥ': 'heroes, valiant men', 'namanti': 'bow, pay homage', 'vivāhanāḥ': 'without vehicles/mounts

• dismounted', 'tān': 'them', 'na etat': 'not this', 'astraṃ': 'missile/weapon (astra, often divinely empowered)', 'saṅgrāme': 'in battle', 'nihaniṣyati': 'will slay, will strike down', 'mānavān': 'men, human beings'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• अस्त्र (astra, divinely empowered weapon)
• शस्त्र (weapons)
• वाहन (vehicle/mount, especially chariot)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid war, dharma imposes limits: those who disarm, dismount, and seek protection with folded hands are not to be slain. The verse frames surrender and non-combatant posture as grounds for immunity from a powerful astra.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the operational constraint of a particular astra: it will not kill men who have stepped down from their vehicles, thrown down their weapons, and bow with joined palms—indicating submission or a plea for mercy on the battlefield.