Shloka 46

Devanagari script

अपक्रम्य तु ते तूर्ण तस्मादायोधनान्नूप । शोकसंविग्नमनसश्रिन्ताध्यानपराभवन्‌,नरेश्वर! शोकसे व्याकुलचित्त हुए वे तीनों महारथी उस युद्धभूमिसे तुरंत ही दूर हट गये और चिन्ता एवं कर्तव्यके विचारमें निमग्न हो गये

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | apakramya tu te tūrṇaṃ tasmād āyodhanān nṛpa | śokasaṃvignamanasaś cintādhyānaparābhavan ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „O König, jene Männer, deren Geist vom Kummer erschüttert war, zogen sich rasch von jenem Schlachtfeld zurück. Von Trauer überwältigt, versanken sie in beklemmendes Nachsinnen—sie erwogen, was zu tun sei und was die Pflicht (Dharma) nun inmitten der Kriegsverwüstung fordere.“

Word by Word

अपक्रम्यhaving withdrawn/retreated

तुbut/indeed

तेthey (those)

तूर्णम्quickly

तस्मात्from that

आयोधनात्from the battlefield

नृपO king

शोक-संविग्न-मनसःwhose minds were agitated by grief

चिन्ता-ध्यान-पराःintent on reflection and anxious thought

अभवन्they became/were

नर-ईश्वरO lord of men (king)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

āyodhana (battlefield)

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?

Even in the midst of war, intense grief can force a pause that turns warriors from action to reflection. The verse highlights a moral-psychological moment: withdrawal is not merely tactical, but an ethical and emotional reckoning—cintā and dhyāna about what duty (kartavya) now demands after devastating events.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the (previously mentioned) warriors quickly leave the battlefield. Their minds are shaken by sorrow, and they become absorbed in anxious contemplation, indicating a temporary break in combat driven by grief and deliberation.