Shloka 41

Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 58 — Arjuna’s Arrow-Storm and Relief of Bhīmasena

Devanagari script

सच्छिन्नधन्वा विरथो हताश्वचो हतसारथि:

Transliteration

sacchinnadhanvā viratho hatāśvo hata-sārathiḥ

Translation

اس کی کمان کٹ چکی تھی، وہ رتھ سے محروم تھا؛ گھوڑے مارے جا چکے تھے اور سارَتھی بھی ہلاک—یوں وہ جنگ میں بالکل بےبس رہ گیا۔

Word by Word

• सत्: good; noble; true
• सत्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सत् (प्रातिपदिक; √अस्-शतृ)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• छिन्न-धन्वा: whose bow is cut/broken
• छिन्न-धन्वा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिन्न (√छिद्, क्त) + धन्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विरथः: without a chariot; dismounted
• विरथः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विरथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• हत-अश्वः: whose horses are slain
• हत-अश्वः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत (√हन्, क्त) + अश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• हत-सारथिः: whose charioteer is slain
• हत-सारथिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत (√हन्, क्त) + सारथि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• bow (dhanus)
• chariot
• horses
• charioteer (sārathi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the fragility of martial advantage: even a chariot-warrior’s strength depends on supports—weapon, chariot, horses, and charioteer. In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, it highlights impermanence and the swift reversal of fortune that tests a kṣatriya’s resolve and conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield moment where a warrior has been thoroughly neutralized: his bow is shattered, he is left without a chariot, and both his horses and charioteer have been killed—signaling a decisive tactical disadvantage and imminent peril.