Shloka 2

सैन्यसंनिवेशः (Sainyasaṃniveśaḥ) — Deployment, Omens, and Yuddha-Dharma Conventions

Devanagari script

वैशग्पायन उवाच यथा युयुधिरे वीरा: कुरुपाण्डवसोमका: । कुरुक्षेत्रे तपःक्षेत्रे शृणु त्वं पृथिवीपते,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--पृथ्वीपते! वीर कौरव, पाण्डव और सोमकोंने तपोभूमि कुरक्षेत्रमें जिस प्रकार युद्ध किया था, उसे बताता हूँ; सुनो

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | yathā yuyudhire vīrāḥ kuru-pāṇḍava-somakāḥ | kuru-kṣetre tapaḥ-kṣetre śṛṇu tvaṃ pṛthivī-pate ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Herr der Erde, höre, wie ich berichte, auf welche Weise die heldenhaften Kurus, die Pāṇḍavas und die Somakas auf Kurukṣetra kämpften—geheiligt als Feld der Askese—wo der Waffengang sich in einer Landschaft entfaltet, die von moralischer und geistiger Bedeutung durchdrungen ist.“

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaishampayana

उवाचsaid

यथाas / in the manner that

युयुधिरेfought

वीराःheroes / warriors

कुरुपाण्डवसोमकाःthe Kurus, the Pandavas, and the Somakas

कुरुक्षेत्रेin Kurukshetra

तपःक्षेत्रेin the field of austerity (holy field)

शृणुhear / listen

त्वम्you

पृथिवीपतेO lord of the earth (king)

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pṛthivīpati (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya)

Kurus

Pāṇḍavas

Somakas

Kurukṣetra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the coming battle as more than a political conflict: it occurs on Kurukṣetra, explicitly called a ‘tapaḥ-kṣetra’, suggesting that actions in war are inseparable from dharma, merit, and moral accountability—especially for rulers and warriors.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses the king (Janamejaya) and begins his account of how the Kurus, Pāṇḍavas, and their allies the Somakas fought at Kurukṣetra, setting the stage for the detailed war narrative of the Bhīṣma Parva.