Shloka 583

Devanagari script

विचचार महाकायो मोहयन्निव भारत । कुरुश्रेष्ठ! भरतनन्दन! वह विशालकाय महामायावी भीमसेनकुमार घटोत्कच मायासे सबको मोहित करता हुआ-सा सब ओर विचरने लगा

Transliteration

vicacāra mahākāyo mohayann iva bhārata | kuruśreṣṭha bharatanandana sa viśālakāyo mahāmāyāvī bhīmasenakumāra ghaṭotkacaḥ māyayā sarvān mohayann iva sarvato vicarituṃ pracakrame |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: O Nachkomme Bharatas—o Bester der Kurus, o Freude der Bharatas—Ghaṭotkaca, der Sohn Bhīmasenas, von gewaltigem Leib und ein Meister großer māyā, begann nach allen Seiten umherzustreifen, als verwirre er mit seiner Zauberkraft alle Krieger.

Word by Word

• विचचार: wandered about
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-चर्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• महाकायः: the huge-bodied (one)
• महाकायः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाकाय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मोहयन्: bewildering, deluding
• मोहयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुह्
• Form: Śatṛ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• भारत: O Bhārata
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by vocatives Bhārata/Kuruśreṣṭha/Bharatanandana)
• Ghaṭotkaca
• Bhīmasena

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how māyā (illusion) can function as a battlefield power that destabilizes perception and order. Ethically, it underscores that in war, victory is not only physical but also mental—steadiness, discernment, and composure become crucial virtues when confusion is deliberately induced.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Ghaṭotkaca—gigantic and skilled in magical illusion—moves about on all sides of the battlefield, seemingly confounding all the fighters through his māyā.