Shloka 20

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

भेरीशब्देन महता मृदड्भानां स्वनेन च । गजानां बंहितैश्वापि तुरड्राणां च ह्रेषितै:

Transliteration

bherīśabdena mahatā mṛdaṅgānāṁ svanena ca | gajānāṁ bṛṁhitaiś cāpi turaṅgāṇāṁ ca hreṣitaiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sagte: „Beim mächtigen Dröhnen der Kriegstrommeln, beim rollenden Klang der mṛdaṅga, beim Trompeten der Elefanten und beim Wiehern der Pferde hallte das Schlachtfeld wider.“ In dieser Kriegsszene kündigt die Klanglandschaft die bewusst herbeigeführte Eskalation des Konflikts an—eine äußere Machtdemonstration, die Furcht und Entschlossenheit steigert und den Hörer daran erinnert, wie kollektiver Rausch Urteilsvermögen und Dharma im Gedränge der Schlacht übermannen kann.

Word by Word

भेरीशब्देनby the sound of the kettle-drums

महतāgreat, loud

मृदङ्गानाम्of the drums (mṛdaṅgas)

स्वनेनby the sound

चand

गजानाम्of the elephants

बृंहितैःby the trumpeting (roars)

अपिalso

तुरङ्गाणाम्of the horses

चand

ह्रेषितैःby the neighings

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

भ

भेरी (war-drums)

म

मृदङ्ग (drums)

ग

गज (elephants)

त

तुरङ्ग (horses)

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 external displays—drums, animal cries, and martial noise—can intensify collective emotion in war. Ethically, it points to the danger that spectacle and momentum may drown out reflection on dharma, making restraint and right judgment harder to maintain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield atmosphere: loud drums are sounded, elephants trumpet, and horses neigh. The combined uproar marks the mobilization and heightened intensity of the fighting in the Drona Parva context.