Mahabharata — Drona Parva, Shloka 32

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 107: Karṇa–Bhīma Saṃmarda

Arrow-storm Engagement

Devanagari script

तवापराधादू राजानो निहता बहुशो युधि

Transliteration

tavāparādhād ū rājāno nihatā bahuśo yudhi

Translation

三阇耶说道：“由于你的过失啊，大王，许多国王在战场上一次又一次地被杀。”

Word by Word

• तव: of you/your
• तव: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• अपराधात्: from (because of) the offense
• अपराधात्: अपादान
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपराध
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन

• राजानः: kings
• राजानः: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• निहताः: slain/killed
• निहताः: —
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-हन्
• Form: भूतकर्मणि (कृत), क्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• बहुशः: many times/repeatedly
• बहुशः: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहुशस्
• Form: true

• युधि: in battle
• युधि: अधिकरण
• Type: Noun
• Root: युध्
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied)
• kings (rājānaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses moral accountability in leadership: a ruler’s error (aparādha) can become the cause of widespread destruction, making the ethical burden of decisions in war inescapable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses the blind king (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra), attributing the repeated slaughter of many allied rulers in the Kurukṣetra war to the king’s own fault—his earlier choices and failures that enabled the conflict.