Shloka 163

Devanagari script

परिवव्र॒ुर्जिघांसन्तो राधेयं शरवृष्टिभि: । शिखण्डी

Transliteration

parivavruḥ jighāṃsantaḥ rādheyaṃ śaravṛṣṭibhiḥ | śikhaṇḍī bhīmasenaḥ drupadakumāraḥ dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ nakula-sahadevau draupadeyāḥ pañca putrāḥ sātyakiś ca svabāṇavarṣeṇa rādheyaṃ karṇaṃ jighāṃsavaḥ sarvataḥ paryavārayan |

Translation

三阇耶曰：他们一心欲诛罗陀耶（迦尔那），以箭雨如暴风自四面合围。尸佉ṇḍī、毗摩塞那、德鲁帕陀之子提湿多迦牟那、那俱罗与娑诃提婆、德罗帕蒂的五子，以及萨底耶迦——皆怀击倒迦尔那之决意——从各方逼近，将他团团围住。

Word by Word

• परिवव्रुः: they surrounded/encircled
• परिवव्रुः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि+वृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद), perfect (completed past), 3, plural

• जिघांसन्तः: wishing to kill
• जिघांसन्तः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु) → जिघांस् (desiderative stem)
• Form: वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ), masculine, nominative, plural

• राधेयम्: Radheya (Karna)
• राधेयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: राधेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• शरवृष्टिभिः: with showers of arrows
• शरवृष्टिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर-वृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, instrumental, plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• राधेय / कर्ण (Rādheya / Karna)
• शिखण्डी (Śikhaṇḍī)
• भीमसेन (Bhīmasena)
• धृष्टद्युम्न (Dhṛṣṭadyumna)
• द्रुपद (Drupada)
• नकुल (Nakula)
• सहदेव (Sahadeva)
• द्रौपदी के पाँचों पुत्र / द्रौपदेय (the five sons of Draupadī / Draupadeyas)
• सात्यकि (Sātyaki)
• शर / बाण (arrows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral tension of war: even a mighty warrior can be overwhelmed when many unite against him, and battlefield necessity often collides with ideals of fairness and individual honor. It invites reflection on how vengeance, strategy, and duty (kṣatriya-dharma) can harden into collective violence with grave ethical cost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a group of Pāṇḍava-aligned fighters—Śikhaṇḍī, Bhīma, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Draupadī’s five sons, and Sātyaki—encircle Karna from all sides and attack him with intense volleys of arrows, aiming to kill him.