Shloka 37

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ रात्रिमुखे घोरे महाशब्दनिनादिते

Transliteration

tasmin rātrimukhe ghore mahāśabdaninādite

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: In jenem schrecklichen Anbruch der Nacht, widerhallend vom gewaltigen Lärm, wurde die Stimmung auf dem Schlachtfeld unheilvoll—die Finsternis zog sich zusammen, doch das Kriegsgeschrei verstummte nicht, und so wuchsen Furcht und moralische Spannung mitten im fortdauernden Gemetzel.

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• रात्रि-मुखे: at the beginning of the night
• रात्रि-मुखे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रात्रि + मुख
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• घोरे: terrible
• घोरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• महा-शब्द-निनादिते: resounding with great noise
• महा-शब्द-निनादिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा + शब्द + निनादित
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war’s momentum can persist even as night falls, intensifying confusion and dread; ethically, it hints at the erosion of restraint when darkness and uproar overwhelm clarity and self-control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya sets the scene: night is beginning, and the surroundings are terrifying, filled with loud reverberating sounds—an atmospheric transition that frames the next events in the battle.