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

جو لوگ اپنی سواریوں سے اتر کر ہتھیار نیچے رکھ دیں گے، اور جو بہادر بغیر سواری کے ہاتھ جوڑ کر تعظیماً جھکیں گے—اس میدانِ جنگ میں یہ استر ایسے انسانوں کو ہلاک نہیں کرے گا۔

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.