Shloka 36

Adhyāya 78 — Bhīṣma’s Advance, Duryodhana’s Rally, and Concurrent Duels (भीष्मस्याभ्युद्यमः, दुर्योधनस्योत्साहवचनम्, विविधयुद्धवर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

तदद्भुतमपश्याम तावकानां परै: सह । एकायनगता: सर्वे यदयुध्यन्त भारत,भरतनन्दन! हमने आपके पुत्रोंका शत्रुओंके साथ अद्भुत पराक्रम देखा था। वे सब-के- सब एक पंक्तिमें खड़े होकर युद्ध कर रहे थे

Transliteration

tad adbhutam apaśyāma tāvakānāṃ paraiḥ saha | ekāyanagatāḥ sarve yad ayudhyanta bhārata, bharatanandana ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “We witnessed a truly astonishing display of valor—your sons fighting together with their foes. All of them, O Bhārata, O joy of the Bharatas, stood aligned in a single formation and fought as one.”

Word by Word

तत्that

अद्भुतम्wonderful, astonishing

अपश्यामI saw

तावकानाम्of your people/sons (your side)

परैःwith/along with the enemies, by the foes

सहtogether with

एकायनगताःgone into one line/one formation; aligned in one row

सर्वेall

यत्that (fact) / how

अयुध्यन्तthey fought

भारतO Bhārata

भरतनन्दनO delight of Bharata (descendant of Bharata)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Bhārata, Bharatanandana)

Kauravas (tāvakāḥ: ‘your sons/your party’)

Enemies/opponents (parāḥ; implicitly the Pāṇḍava side)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the power and moral ambiguity of collective resolve in war: unified alignment and shared purpose can produce astonishing prowess, yet it is presented within the tragic context of kin-slaying, reminding the listener that martial excellence does not by itself settle questions of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that he witnessed the Kaurava side—‘your sons’—fighting the enemy in a strikingly unified manner, standing in a single aligned formation and engaging in battle together.