Shloka 236

Devanagari script

यथा सिंहं समासाद्य मृगा: प्राणपरायणा: । जैसे सिंहका सामना पड़ जानेपर मृग भयभीत हो अपने प्राण बचानेके लिये भागते हैं, उसी प्रकार मारे जाते हुए घोड़े भयसे व्याकुल हो इधर-उधर भाग रहे थे

Transliteration

yathā siṁhaṁ samāsādya mṛgāḥ prāṇaparāyaṇāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Wie Hirsche, wenn sie einem Löwen gegenüberstehen, ganz darauf bedacht sind, ihr Leben zu retten, und in Schrecken fliehen, so gerieten auch die Pferde—von Schlägen niedergestreckt—in Panik und rannten in alle Richtungen davon.

Word by Word

यथाjust as

सिंहम्lion

समासाद्यhaving approached/encountered

मृगाःdeer/animals of the forest

प्राणपरायणाःintent on saving their lives; life-dependent

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

lion (siṁha)

deer/wild animals (mṛga)

horses (implied by context)

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 highlights how, in the face of overwhelming danger, living beings instinctively prioritize the preservation of life; it underscores the terror and chaos that war unleashes even upon animals, revealing the ethical weight of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene through a simile: as deer scatter when a lion appears, so the horses being slain are seized by fear and bolt in different directions.