Shloka 32

Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

अभिष्लुतमभिक्रुद्धमेकपार्श्वावदारितम्‌

Transliteration

abhiṣlutam abhikruddham ekapārśvāvadhāritam

Translation

Sañjaya said: “(It was) struck hard and enraged, and had one side torn open.” The line conveys the brutal immediacy of battlefield violence—an image of a wounded combatant or creature driven into fury by injury, showing how war deforms both body and temperament.

Word by Word

• अभिष्लुतम्: pierced/struck (through), transfixed
• अभिष्लुतम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि-श्लुत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; श्लु/श्रु धातु-सम्भव)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अभिक्रुद्धम्: enraged, furious
• अभिक्रुद्धम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि-क्रुद्ध (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; क्रुध् धातु)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• एकपार्श्वावदारितम्: having one side torn/opened
• एकपार्श्वावदारितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक-पार्श्व-अवदारित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; अव+दॄ/दर् धातु-सम्भव)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse is primarily descriptive, but ethically it highlights how violence breeds further rage and suffering: injury provokes fury, and war reduces beings to wounded bodies and reactive emotions, warning of the moral and psychological costs of conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a vivid battlefield moment: something—likely a combatant, mount, or war-elephant/horse in context—has been struck, becomes enraged, and is visibly torn open on one side, emphasizing the ferocity of the fighting.