Shloka 21

Devanagari script

एते शब्दा भृशं तीव्रा: प्रवृत्ता: कुरुसागरे

Transliteration

ete śabdā bhṛśaṃ tīvrāḥ pravṛttāḥ kurusāgare

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Diese Laute—überaus rau und heftig—sind aufgestiegen und breiten sich durch den ‘Kuru-Ozean’ (das gewaltige Heer der Kurus) aus“, und verraten seine bange Aufmerksamkeit für den moralischen und menschlichen Preis, den das Kriegsgeschrei ankündigt.

Word by Word

• एते: these
• एते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शब्दाः: sounds, noises
• शब्दाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शब्द
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• भृशम्: exceedingly, greatly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भृशम्

• तीव्राः: fierce, intense
• तीव्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तीव्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रवृत्ताः: arisen, set in motion, occurred
• प्रवृत्ताः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्रवृत्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, —, —, Past passive participle (क्त)

• कुरुसागरे: in the Kuru-ocean (i.e., the Kuru host/army likened to an ocean)
• कुरुसागरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुसागर
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kuru (host/army)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights moral sensitivity amid war: even when duty compels battle, a righteous leader remains alert to the suffering and disorder signaled by harsh, rising sounds, reflecting an ethical conscience rather than indifference.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira notices a surge of fierce, loud noises spreading across the vast Kuru host—an atmospheric cue of escalating conflict and turmoil on the battlefield.