Shloka 37

Devanagari script

शूला भुशुण्ड्यो5श्मगुडा: शतघ्न्य: स्थूणाश्न कार्ष्णायसपट्टनद्धा: । तेडवाकिरंस्तव पुत्रस्य सैन्यं ततो रौद्रें कश्मलं प्रादुरासीत्‌,राजन! वे राक्षस आपके पुत्रकी सेनापर लगातार शूल, भुशुण्डी, पत्थरोंके गोले, शतघ्नी और लोहेके पत्रोंसे मढ़े गये स्थूणाकारः शस्त्र बरसाने लगे। इससे आपके सैनिकोंपर भयंकर मोह छा गया

Transliteration

śūlā bhuśuṇḍyo'śmagudāḥ śataghnyaḥ sthūṇāś ca kārṣṇāyasapaṭṭanaddhāḥ | teḍavākiraṃs tava putrasya sainyaṃ tato raudre kaśmalaṃ prādurāsīt rājān ||

Translation

قال سَنجايا: أيها الملك! ظلّوا يمطرون جيش ابنك بالرماح، وبمقذوفات البُهُشُنْدي، وبكرات الحجر، وبأسلحة الشَّتَغْني، وبالهراوات الشبيهة بالأعمدة المصفّحة بصفائح الحديد. وتحت ذلك الهجوم القاسي، يا ملك، استولى على جنودك ذهولٌ مرعبٌ وذعرٌ عظيم.

Word by Word

• {'śūlāḥ': 'spears, pikes', 'bhuśuṇḍyaḥ': 'heavy missile/club-like projectile (a formidable hurled weapon)', 'aśmagudāḥ': 'stone-balls

• stone-headed maces/projectiles', 'śataghnyaḥ': "a destructive weapon said to 'slay a hundred' (often a spiked mace/club or heavy missile)", 'sthūṇāḥ': 'pillars, posts

• here: pillar-like weapons/clubs', 'kārṣṇāyasa': 'made of black iron', 'paṭṭa': 'plate, band, strip (of metal)', 'naddhāḥ': 'bound, fastened, wrapped', 'avākiran': 'they showered down, rained upon, poured forth', 'tava putrasya sainyam': 'the army of your son (Duryodhana’s forces)', 'raudre': 'fierce, cruel, terrible', 'kaśmalam': 'bewilderment, moral-mental confusion, panic, despondency', 'prādurāsīt': 'arose, manifested', 'rājān': 'O King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Duryodhana (implied by 'your son')
• Kaurava army
• weapons: śūla, bhuśuṇḍī, aśmagudā, śataghnī, iron-plated sthūṇa-like clubs

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how overwhelming violence in war can shatter morale and clarity, producing kaśmala—paralyzing confusion and panic. It implicitly warns that the ethical and psychological costs of warfare extend beyond physical injury to the collapse of steadiness and judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that fierce attackers (described as raining weapons) bombard Duryodhana’s forces with multiple heavy missiles and iron-bound, pillar-like weapons. The Kaurava troops, unable to withstand the assault, fall into terror and bewilderment.