Shloka 23

Devanagari script

मन्ये वज़ञधरस्यैष निनादो भैरवस्वन:

Transliteration

manye vajradharasya eṣa ninādo bhairavasvanaḥ

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sagte: „Ich glaube, dies ist das schreckliche, donnergleiche Brüllen des Vajradhara (Indra).“ Inmitten des Kriegswirrwarrs deutet er den furchterregenden Laut als göttliches Zeichen—ein Versuch, in einem überwältigenden Geschehen des Schlachtfelds Sinn und moralische Ordnung zu erkennen.

Word by Word

मन्येI think / I consider

वज्रधरस्यof the thunderbolt-bearer (Indra)

एषःthis

निनादःroar / loud sound

भैरवस्वनःhaving a terrible sound

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Vajradhara (Indra)

vajra (thunderbolt)

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?

Even amid violence and uncertainty, a dharmic leader seeks interpretation rather than panic—reading events through a moral and cosmic lens, and looking for signs that restore courage and order.

What is happening in the narrative?

On the battlefield in Droṇa Parva, a terrifying roar is heard. Yudhiṣṭhira identifies it as the awe-inspiring sound of Indra (Vajradhara), treating it as a significant, possibly auspicious or portentous, occurrence.