Mahabharata 9.14.28 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 14, Shloka 28

Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)

Devanagari script

व्यश्वसूतरथं चक्रे सव्यसाची परंतप:

Transliteration

vyaśvasūtarathaṃ cakre savyasācī parantapaḥ

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—سویہ ساچی، پرنتپ ارجن نے دشمن کے گھوڑوں، سارَتھی اور رتھ کو تباہ کر ڈالا۔

Word by Word

• व्यश्वसूतरथम्: the chariot with horses and charioteer (i.e., fully equipped chariot)
• व्यश्वसूतरथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व + सूत + रथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• चक्रे: made / rendered
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Singular

• सव्यसाची: Arjuna (the ambidextrous archer)
• सव्यसाची: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सव्यसाचिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• परंतपः: the scorcher of foes (epithet)
• परंतपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: परंतप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Arjuna (Savyasācī)
• enemy chariot (ratha)
• charioteer (sūta)
• horses (aśva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights disciplined martial excellence within the harsh framework of kṣatriya-duty: in war, decisive action and skill are exercised not as personal cruelty but as the grim execution of one’s role in a righteous conflict as presented by the epic’s narrative voice.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Arjuna, famed as Savyasācī, strikes so effectively that the opponent’s chariot-unit—its horses, charioteer, and chariot—is rendered ruined or disabled, signaling a turning point in that immediate combat exchange.