Mahabharata 7.201.16 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

प्रादुरासंस्ततो बाणा दीप्ताग्रा: खे सहस्रश: । पाण्डवान्‌ क्षपयिष्यन्तो दीप्तास्था: पन्नगा इव

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

prādurāsaṃs tato bāṇā dīptāgrāḥ khe sahasraśaḥ |

pāṇḍavān kṣapayisyanto dīptāsthāḥ pannagā iva ||

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า—แล้วบัดนั้นเอง ลูกศรนับพันก็ปรากฏขึ้นกลางนภา ปลายศรลุกโพลงดุจเปลวไฟ ราวอสรพิษอ้าปากพ่นเพลิง มันพุ่งเข้าหมายทำลายกองทัพของปาณฑพทั้งปวง

Word by Word

• प्रादुरासन्: appeared, became manifest
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्रादुर् + अस्
• Form: लङ् (imperfect), 3, plural, परस्मैपद

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• बाणाः: arrows
• बाणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाण
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• दीप्ताग्राः: having blazing tips
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीप्त + अग्र
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• खे: in the sky
• खे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ख
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• सहस्रशः: by thousands, in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्रशस्

• पाण्डवान्: the Pandavas
• पाण्डवान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• क्षपयिष्यन्तः: intending to destroy
• Type: Verb
• Root: क्षपय् (caus. of क्षि/क्षय)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle) with future-intent sense, masculine, nominative, plural, active

• दीप्तास्याः: having blazing mouths
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीप्त + आस्य
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• पन्नगाः: serpents
• Type: Noun
• Root: पन्नग
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• पाण्डव (Pāṇḍava)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war, once intensified by extraordinary weapons, tends to exceed ordinary human restraint. Ethically, it warns that the pursuit of total destruction (kṣapayiṣyantaḥ) signals a collapse of proportionality and compassion—pressing the listener to reflect on dharma even amid victory-seeking violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a terrifying battlefield moment: thousands of flaming arrows suddenly manifest in the sky and surge toward the Pāṇḍavas’ forces, compared to blazing serpents. In the surrounding episode (as commonly narrated in this section), this imagery accompanies the unleashing of a powerful astric weapon aimed at mass destruction.