Shloka 33

Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host

Devanagari script

तां नदीं परलोकाय वहन्तीमतिभैरवाम्‌ । तेरुर्वाहननौभिस्तै: शूरा: परिघबाहव:,परलोककी ओर ले जानेवाली उस अत्यन्त भयंकर नदीको परिघ-जैसी मोटी भुजाओंवाले शूरवीर योद्धा अपने-अपने वाहनरूपी नौकाओंद्वारा पार करते थे

Transliteration

tāṁ nadīṁ paralokāya vahantīm atibhairavām | terur vāhana-naubhis taiḥ śūrāḥ parigha-bāhavaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Jenen überaus schrecklichen Strom, der die Wesen zur jenseitigen Welt trug, durchquerten heldenhafte Krieger mit keulenstarken Armen, ein jeder mit seinem eigenen Gefährt, als wäre es ein Boot.

Word by Word

ताम्that (her/that one)

नदीम्river

परलोकायto the other world

वहन्तीम्carrying, conveying

अति-भैरवाम्exceedingly terrible

तेरुःthey crossed over

वाहन-नौभिःby boats in the form of vehicles

तैःby those

शूराःheroes, brave warriors

परिघ-बाहवःwhose arms are like iron bars (maces)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

nadī (a fearsome river as a metaphorical/visionary passage)

paraloka (the other world/afterlife)

vāhana (vehicles/chariots as boat-like means)

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 frames the battlefield as a passage toward paraloka: death is not merely an end but a transition shaped by one’s karma and chosen path. The warriors’ ‘vehicles as boats’ suggests that one’s means—skill, resolve, and role (svadharma)—becomes the instrument by which one crosses peril toward the next state.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a terrifying ‘river’ that carries beings toward the other world, and depicts the heroes as crossing it using their own conveyances like boats. It is vivid war-imagery: the fighters, strong-armed and fearless, move through deadly danger as though traversing a dreadful stream.