Shloka 43

शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni

with Ulūka’s fall

Devanagari script

तमर्जुन: पृषत्कानां शतेन भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

tam arjunaḥ pṛṣatkānāṁ śatena bharatarṣabha

Translation

Sinabi ni Sañjaya: O bantayog sa mga Bharata, tinamaan ni Arjuna siya ng sandaang palaso—larawan ng walang humpay na pasyang mandirigma sa gitna ng mabigat na tungkulin ng digmaan.

Word by Word

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अर्जुनः: Arjuna
• अर्जुनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्जुन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पृषत्कानाम्: of arrows (spears/shafts)
• पृषत्कानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृषत्क
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• शतेन: with a hundred
• शतेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• भरतर्षभ: O bull of the Bharatas
• भरतर्षभ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरतर्षभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Bharatarṣabha (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• arrows (pṛṣatka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores kṣatriya-dharma in its starkest form: disciplined force applied in battle as a duty, not as personal cruelty—Sañjaya’s report frames the action as part of the larger moral burden of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna showers the opponent (referred to as 'him') with a hundred arrows, indicating an intense exchange and Arjuna’s decisive martial pressure in the Shalya Parva battle sequence.