Mahabharata 7.21.56 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 56

द्रोणविक्रमदर्शनम् / The Display of Droṇa’s Onslaught and the Debate on Pāṇḍava Regrouping

Devanagari script

अशीत्या क्षत्रवर्माणं षड्विंशत्या सुदक्षिणम्‌ । क्षत्रदेव॑ तु भल्‍लेन रथनीडादपातयत्‌

Transliteration

aśītyā kṣatravarmāṇaṃ ṣaḍviṃśatyā sudakṣiṇam | kṣatradevaṃ tu bhallena rathanīḍād apātayat |

Translation

پھر اس نے کشتروَرما کو اسی تیروں سے اور سُدکشن کو چھبیس تیروں سے زخمی کیا؛ اس کے بعد بھلّہ تیر سے کشتردیو کو گھائل کر کے رتھ کی نشست سے نیچے گرا دیا۔

Word by Word

• अशीत्या: with eighty (arrows)
• अशीत्या: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अशीति
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• क्षत्रवर्माणम्: Kṣatravarman
• क्षत्रवर्माणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रवर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• षड्विंशत्या: with twenty-six (arrows)
• षड्विंशत्या: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: षड्विंशति
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• सुदक्षिणम्: Sudakṣiṇa
• सुदक्षिणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुदक्षिण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• क्षत्रदेवम्: Kṣatradeva
• क्षत्रदेवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रदेव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but/and then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• भल्लेन: with a bhalla-arrow (broad-headed shaft)
• भल्लेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भल्ल
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• रथनीडात्: from the chariot-seat (lit. chariot-nest)
• रथनीडात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथनीड
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• अपातयत्: caused to fall; knocked down
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada, Yes (ṇic)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kṣatravarman
• Sudakṣiṇa
• Kṣatradeva
• bhalla (arrow)
• ratha (chariot)
• rathanīḍa (chariot-seat)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the harsh ethic of the battlefield: measured prowess and decisive action can instantly overturn a warrior’s standing. It implicitly reflects kṣatriya-dharma in war—skill, resolve, and the acceptance that honor and life can change in a moment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a combat episode in which a warrior strikes Kṣatravarman with eighty arrows, Sudakṣiṇa with twenty-six, and then uses a bhalla-arrow to wound Kṣatradeva and knock him down from the chariot-seat.