Shloka 21

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यमभिधावन्त: सम्प्रहारं प्रचक्रिरे । नाना प्रकारके अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंकोी छोड़ते और एक-दूसरेकी ओर दौड़ते हुए उभय पक्षके महारथी भीषण युद्ध करने लगे ।। २० ई ।। व्यतिषक्तं महारौद्रं युद्ध भीरुभयावहम्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | anyonyam abhidhāvantaḥ samprahāraṃ pracakrire | vyatiṣaktaṃ mahāraudraṃ yuddhaṃ bhīr-ubhayāvaham ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Rushing at one another, they began a fierce exchange of blows. The battle became tangled and exceedingly dreadful, bringing terror to both sides—an image of war’s consuming momentum, where valor and duty are asserted amid the ethical cost of mutual destruction.

Word by Word

• अन्योन्यम्: mutually, each other
• अन्योन्यम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण)

• अभिधावन्तः: running towards (charging)
• अभिधावन्तः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-धाव् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ), प्रथमा बहुवचन, पुंलिङ्ग

• सम्प्रहारम्: combat, clash
• सम्प्रहारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम्प्रहार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• प्रचक्रिरे: they began / they set in motion
• प्रचक्रिरे: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-चर् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• व्यतिषक्तम्: intermingled, entangled
• व्यतिषक्तम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-अति-षञ्ज् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• महारौद्रम्: very dreadful, extremely fierce
• महारौद्रम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महारौद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• युद्धम्: battle
• युद्धम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: युद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• भीरु: the fearful (cowardly) / fear
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (समासपूर्वपद-रूपेण)

• उभय: both
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उभय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-रूपेण (अव्यक्त-विभक्ति)

• आवहम्: bringing, causing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-वह् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ/ण्वुलादि-प्रत्ययान्त विशेषण-रूप), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (समासान्त)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• ubhayapakṣa (both armies/sides)
• mahāratha (great chariot-warriors)
• astra (missile weapons)
• śastra (hand weapons)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war, once joined, rapidly becomes mutually entangling and terrifying: even when framed as kṣatriya-dharma, its lived reality is confusion, fear, and shared suffering—an implicit ethical reminder of the grave cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the great warriors of both sides charge at each other, hurling weapons and entering close combat; the fighting becomes densely intermingled and extremely dreadful, spreading fear across both armies.