Shloka 27

Virāṭa’s Mobilization to Recover the Cattle (गोधनरक्षणार्थ विराटस्य सैन्यसमायोजनम्)

Devanagari script

अपरे दिवसे सर्वे राजन्‌ सम्भूय कौरवा: । अष्टम्यां ते न्यगृह्लन्त गोकुलानि सहस्रश:,राजन! फिर दूसरे दिन अष्टमीको दूसरी ओरसे सब कौरवोंने मिलकर धावा किया और गौओंके सहस्रों झुंडोपर अधिकार जमा लिया

Transliteration

apare divase sarve rājan sambhūya kauravāḥ | aṣṭamyāṃ te nyagṛhṇanta gokulāni sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Dann, am folgenden Tag, o König, versammelten sich alle Kauravas; und am achten Mondtag bemächtigten sie sich der Siedlungen der Rinderhirten und trieben das Vieh zu Tausenden fort.“

Word by Word

अपरेon the next (day)

दिवसेday

सर्वेall

राजन्O king

सम्भूयhaving assembled / having come together

कौरवाःthe Kauravas

अष्टम्याम्on the eighth (day/tithi)

तेthey

न्यगृह्लन्तthey seized / took possession of

गोकुलानिcow-herds / cattle-pens / herds of cows

सहस्रशःby thousands / in thousands

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Kauravas

gokula (cowherd settlements/cattle-stations)

Aṣṭamī (eighth lunar day)

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 highlights how collective aggression and unlawful seizure of others’ livelihood (cattle and cowherd settlements) becomes a moral fault that fuels wider conflict. It implicitly contrasts kṣatriya power with the dharmic duty to protect subjects and their property rather than exploit them.

What is happening in the narrative?

On the next day, the Kauravas gather as a group and launch a raid on Aṣṭamī, taking possession of the cattle-stations and capturing cattle in great numbers—an act that intensifies the confrontation in the Virāṭa episode.