Mahabharata 3.21.4 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 4

Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)

Devanagari script

तत:ः शतसहस्तरेण शराणां नतपर्वणाम्‌ । दारुकं वाजिनश्लैव रथं च समवाकिरत्‌,तदनन्तर शाल्वने झुकी हुई गाँठोंवाले लाखों बाणोंका प्रहार करके मेरे सारथि दारुक, घोड़ों तथा रथको आच्छादित कर दिया

Transliteration

tataḥ śata-sahasreṇa śarāṇāṃ nataparvaṇām | dārukaṃ vājinaś caiva rathaṃ ca samavākirat |

Translation

پھر شالْو نے خم دار جوڑوں والے ایک لاکھ تیروں کی بوچھاڑ کر کے دارُک، گھوڑوں اور رتھ کو پوری طرح ڈھانپ دیا۔

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय

• शतसहस्रेण: with a hundred-thousand (i.e., by a lakh)
• शतसहस्रेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शतसहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• शराणाम्: of arrows
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• नतपर्वणाम्: having bent joints/knots (at the nodes)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नतपर्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• दारुकम्: Dāruka (the charioteer)
• दारुकम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दारुक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वाजिनः: horses
• वाजिनः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाजिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• रथम्: chariot
• रथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: अव्यय

• समवाकिरत्: he covered/sprinkled over, showered upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव√कॄ (किरति) उपसर्ग: सम्+अव
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Dāruka
• horses (vājinaḥ)
• chariot (ratha)
• arrows (śara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the harsh reality of warfare where even non-combat supports (charioteer, horses, chariot) are endangered, testing a warrior’s steadiness and discernment about righteous conduct amid escalating violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

A combatant unleashes an immense volley—‘a hundred thousand’ barbed arrows—so dense that it blankets Dāruka, the horses, and the chariot, momentarily overwhelming the chariot-team in the battle.