Shloka 35

अध्याय ४ — दुर्योधनस्य असंधि-निश्चयः

Duryodhana’s Refusal of Reconciliation

Devanagari script

नष्टचन्द्रा यथा रात्रि: सेनेयं हतनायका । नागभग्नद्रुमा शुष्का नदीवाकुलतां गता,'जैसे चन्द्रमाके उदित न होनेपर रात्रि अन्धकारमयी दिखायी देती है, उसी प्रकार हमारी यह सेना सेनापतिके मारे जानेसे श्रीहीन हो रही है। हाथीने जिसके किनारेके वृक्षोंको तोड़ डाला हो, उस सूखी नदीके समान यह व्याकुल हो उठी है

Transliteration

naṣṭacandrā yathā rātriḥ seneyaṃ hatanāyakā | nāgabhagnadrumā śuṣkā nadīvākulatāṃ gatā ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: «Wie eine Nacht dunkel erscheint, wenn der Mond verloren ist, so ist auch dieses unser Heer — sein Befehlshaber erschlagen — des Glanzes und der Zuversicht beraubt. Wie ein ausgetrockneter Fluss, dessen Uferbäume von Elefanten zerbrochen wurden, ist es in Unruhe und Wirrsal geraten.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'naṣṭa-candrā', 'definition': 'with the moon lost/absent

• moonless'}, {'term': 'yathā', 'definition': 'just as

• like'}, {'term': 'rātriḥ', 'definition': 'night'}, {'term': 'senā (sene yam)', 'definition': 'army

• here ‘this army’'}, {'term': 'hata-nāyakā', 'definition': 'whose leader/commander has been slain'}, {'term': 'nāga', 'definition': 'elephant'}, {'term': 'bhagna', 'definition': 'broken

• shattered'}, {'term': 'drumāḥ', 'definition': 'trees'}, {'term': 'śuṣkā', 'definition': 'dried up

• parched'}, {'term': 'nadī', 'definition': 'river'}, {'term': 'ākulatā', 'definition': 'confusion

• turmoil'}, {'term': 'gatā', 'definition': 'gone to

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• the Kaurava army (senā)
• moon (candra)
• night (rātri)
• elephants (nāga)
• river (nadī)
• trees (druma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the fall of a leader can extinguish collective confidence: without guiding authority and cohesion, even a powerful force becomes disoriented. Ethically, it underscores the fragility of worldly strength and the dependence of order on responsible leadership.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava host has become shaken and chaotic after its commander has been killed. He uses two similes—moonless night and a dried riverbank ravaged by elephants—to convey loss of brilliance and the spread of turmoil through the ranks.