Shloka 39

Devanagari script

गिरय: सागराश्रैव नद्यक्ष सजलास्तथा

Transliteration

girayaḥ sāgarāś caiva nadyaś ca sajalās tathā

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Sogar die Berge, die Ozeane und die Flüsse—noch immer wasserreich—(schienen davon ergriffen und überwältigt).“ Die Zeile beschwört eine Erschütterung von kosmischem Ausmaß: Die Gewalt und Wucht des Krieges rüttelten nicht nur an den Kriegern, sondern an der Stabilität der Natur selbst und unterstrichen so das moralische Gewicht und die katastrophale Reichweite des Krieges.

Word by Word

• गिरयः: mountains
• गिरयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सागराः: oceans/seas
• सागराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सागर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• इव: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• नद्यः: rivers
• नद्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• सजलाः: water-filled (having water)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-जल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: so/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• mountains
• oceans
• rivers

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses vast natural features to convey that the effects of destructive conflict are not limited to human combatants; adharma-driven violence destabilizes the whole order of the world, making war a moral and cosmic crisis rather than a mere contest of arms.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, describes the battle’s intensity through hyperbolic nature imagery—mountains, oceans, and water-filled rivers are portrayed as being shaken or overwhelmed—signaling an extraordinary, world-shaking moment in the war.