Shloka 40

धृतराष्ट्र-संजय-संवादः — दुर्योधनस्य ह्रदप्रवेशः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Saṃjaya Dialogue: Duryodhana’s Entry into the Lake

Devanagari script

ततः शक्ति महाघोरां कालरात्रिमिवोद्यताम्‌

Transliteration

tataḥ śaktiṃ mahāghorāṃ kālarātrim ivodyatām

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Dann hob er einen entsetzlich furchterregenden Speer empor, als wäre Kālarātri selbst erhoben—ein Bild des nahenden Unheils, das unterstreicht, wie die Gewalt des Krieges Waffen zu Verkörperungen des Todes und moralischer Gefahr macht.

Word by Word

ततःthen; thereafter

शक्तिम्a spear/javelin (śakti-weapon)

महाघोराम्very terrible

कालरात्रिम्Kālarātri (the night of doom; personified dreadful night)

इवlike; as if

उद्यताम्raised; uplifted; brandished

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

śakti (spear/javelin)

Kālarātri

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses the simile of Kālarātri to show how, in war, human action can resemble the impersonal force of death—warning that violence, once unleashed, carries a dreadful moral weight and an atmosphere of inevitable destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a combatant (implied from context) brandishing a spear, portraying it as so terrifying that it seems like Kālarātri herself has been raised, signaling an imminent lethal strike.