Shloka 11

इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्

Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment

Devanagari script

सहदेवस्तु संयाय रथेन गजयोधिन: । पातयामास नाराचैट्रैमेभ्य इव बर्हिण:,सहदेव रथद्वारा आगे बढ़कर हाथीसवार योद्धाओंसे भिड़ गये और नाराच नामक बाणोंसे मार-मारकर उन्हें इस प्रकार नीचे गिराने लगे, मानो कोई व्याध वृक्षोंपरसे मोरोंको घायल करके गिरा रहा हो

Transliteration

sahadevas tu saṃyāya rathena gajayodhinaḥ | pātayāmāsa nārācais trāmebhya iva barhiṇaḥ ||

Translation

సహదేవుడు రథంతో ముందుకు దూసుకెళ్లి గజారోహ యోధులతో ఢీకొన్నాడు; ‘నారాచ’ బాణాలతో వారిని పదేపదే కొట్టి కిందపడేసాడు—చెట్లపై ఉన్న నెమళ్లను వేటగాడు బాణాలతో గాయపరచి పడేసినట్లుగా.

Word by Word

सहदेवःSahadeva

तुbut/indeed

संयायhaving engaged/closed in (fought)

रथेनwith a chariot

गजयोधिनःelephant-warriors (fighters on elephants)

पातयामासcaused to fall / felled

नाराचैःwith nārāca arrows

त्रैमेभ्यःfrom these (ones)

इवas if/like

बर्हिणःpeacocks

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sahadeva

chariot (ratha)

elephant-warriors (gajayodhinaḥ)

nārāca arrows

peacocks (barhiṇaḥ)

hunter (vyādha, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in action: when conflict becomes unavoidable, a warrior is expected to act decisively and skillfully. The hunter–peacock simile also invites ethical reflection on how martial prowess can be efficient and unsparing, reminding readers that war reduces living beings to targets even when framed within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sahadeva drives his chariot forward to engage elephant-mounted fighters and shoots them down with nārāca arrows, causing them to fall from their mounts. The narrator compares their falling to peacocks dropping from trees when struck by a hunter.