Shloka 45

Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 19 — Saṃśaptaka–Trigarta Assault and Aindra-astra Counter

Devanagari script

ततः प्रजज्वाल परेण मन्युना पादाहतो नागपतिर्यथा तथा । समाददे चान्तकदण्डसंनिभा- निषूनमित्रार्तिकरां क्षतुर्दश

Transliteration

tataḥ prajajvāla pareṇa manyunā pādāhato nāgapatir yathā tathā | samādade cāntakadaṇḍasaṁnibhān niśūnamitrārtikarān kṣaturdaśa ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Bấy giờ, bị chọc giận đến tột cùng—như chúa loài rắn khi bị chân giẫm đạp—ông bừng bừng như lửa. Rồi ông cầm lấy mười bốn mũi tên, đáng sợ như trượng của Yama, quyết làm quân thù đau đớn và tiêu diệt.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः
• Form: indeclinable (ablatival adverb: 'from that/then')

• प्रजज्वाल: blazed up
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्वल्
• Form: लिट् (perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• परेण: with intense/violent
• परेण: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• मन्युना: anger, wrath
• मन्युना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्यु
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• पादाहतः: struck by the foot
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पादाहत
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (क्त-प्रत्ययान्तः)

• नागपतिः: lord of serpents
• नागपतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नागपति
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• यथा: as, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा
• Form: indeclinable

• तथा: so, likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा
• Form: indeclinable

• समाददे: took up, seized
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (आ + सम् + आ + दा)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

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

• अन्तकदण्डसंनिभाः: resembling the rod of Death
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्तकदण्डसंनिभ
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• निषूनमित्रार्तिकरान्: causing distress to slain enemies (i.e., to enemies by slaying them)
• निषूनमित्रार्तिकरान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निषूनमित्रार्तिकर
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• क्षतुः: of the archer (lit. 'one who wounds/slays')
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षतु
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• दश: ten
• Type: Noun
• Root: दश
• Form: indeclinable numeral (10)

• चतुरः: four
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर्
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन (used with दश = 14)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• नागपति (Nāgapati, as a simile)
• अन्तक / यम (Antaka/Yama, as a simile)
• चतुर्दश बाण (fourteen arrows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how humiliation or injury can rapidly inflame anger, and how anger in a battlefield context tends to translate immediately into destructive action. Ethically, it warns that unchecked wrath becomes a driver of cruelty, even when framed as martial retaliation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior (contextually, Aśvatthāmā in the surrounding narration) flaring up in intense rage, compared to a Nāga-king struck by a foot, and then taking up fourteen deadly arrows likened to Yama’s rod, ready to inflict suffering on enemies.