Shloka 4

Devanagari script

राजन्‌ कदाचित्नास्माभिद्दष्ट तादूडू न च श्रुतम्‌ । यादृड मध्यगते सूर्य युद्धमासीद्‌ विशाम्पते,राजन! प्रजानाथ! वहाँ मध्याह्नकालमें जैसा वह युद्ध हुआ था, वैसा न तो मैंने कभी देखा था और न सुना ही था

Transliteration

rājan kadācin nāsmābhir dṛṣṭaṃ tādṛk na ca śrutam | yādṛg madhyagate sūrye yuddham āsīd viśāmpate ||

Translation

قال سنجيا: أيها الملك، ما رأينا قطّ، ولا سمعنا حتى، بمعركةٍ كالمعركة التي وقعت حين كان الشمس في كبد السماء عند الظهيرة. يا سيّد الرعية، في ذروة النهار اندلع صراعٌ ضارٍ لم يُعهد مثله، كأن نظام العالم نفسه يُمتحَن بجمرة الحرب وغضبها.

Word by Word

राजन्O king

कदाचित्ever/at any time

नnot

अस्माभिःby us / by me (pl. of modesty)

दृष्टम्seen

तादृक्such (of that kind)

नnor/not

चand

श्रुतम्heard

यादृक्as/what kind (as it was)

मध्यगतेwhen (the sun) had reached the middle (midday)

सूर्येin/at the sun (i.e., when the sun was at mid-position)

युद्धम्battle

आसीत्was

विशाम्पतेO lord of the people

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as rājan/viśāmpati)

Sun (Sūrya)

midday (madhyāhna implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the extraordinary and unsettling intensity of war: when violence exceeds what has been seen or heard, it signals a breakdown of normal moral and social limits. Sañjaya’s astonishment implicitly warns that unchecked conflict can overwhelm customary dharma and human expectation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battle occurring around midday was unlike anything he had ever witnessed or heard of. It sets the tone for an especially fierce phase of fighting in the Droṇa Parva.