Shloka 146

Devanagari script

सहस््रयामप्रतिमा बभूव प्राणहारिणी । यह तीन पहरकी रात उनके लिये सहसौरों प्रहरोंकी रात्रिके समान घोर, भयानक एवं प्राणहारिणी प्रतीत होती थी

Transliteration

sahasrayāmapratimā babhūva prāṇahāriṇī |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Jene Nacht, obgleich nur drei Wachen lang, erschien ihnen wie eine Nacht aus tausend Wachen — düster, schreckenerregend, als raube sie das Leben selbst. In der moralischen Atmosphäre des Krieges vergrößerten Furcht und Erschöpfung die Zeit, und die Qual des Geistes wurde so tödlich wie Waffen.

Word by Word

सहस्रयामप्रतिमाhaving the likeness of a thousand yāmas (watches)

बभूवbecame/was

प्राणहारिणीlife-taking, deadly

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

War’s violence does not remain only on the battlefield; it invades the mind. When fear, guilt, and exhaustion dominate, even ordinary time becomes oppressive, and suffering feels life-draining—an ethical reminder of the inner cost of adharma and relentless conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a particular night during the Drona Parva felt unbearably long and deadly to those involved—only three watches in duration, yet experienced as if it were thousands, because of the terror and intensity surrounding the events of the war.