Shloka 38

Devanagari script

तैरश्मचूर्णै्दीप्यद्धि: खद्योतानामिव व्रजै: । प्राय: सैन्यान्यहन्यन्त हाहाभूतानि मारिष,माननीय नरेश! जुगनुओंकी जमातोंके समान उद्धासित होनेवाले उन प्रस्तरचूर्णोंसे प्रायः सारी सेनाएँ आहत हो हाहाकार करने लगीं

Transliteration

taiḥ śmacūrṇair dīpyadbhir khadyotānām iva vrajaiḥ | prāyaḥ sainyāny ahanyanta hāhābhūtāni māriṣa ||

Translation

O venerable king, by those blazing showers of stone-fragments, like swarms of fireflies, nearly all the troops were struck, and cries of “Alas! Alas!” arose.

Word by Word

तैःby those

अश्मचूर्णैःwith stone-dust/powdered rocks

दीप्यत्shining, blazing

हिindeed

खद्योतानाम्of fireflies

इवlike, as

व्रजैःwith groups/swarms

प्रायःfor the most part, almost

सैन्यानिarmies, troops

अहन्यन्तwere struck/being slain

हाहाभूतानिhaving become ‘hāhā’ (wailing), panic-stricken

मारिषO venerable sir

माननीयO worthy of honor

नरेशO king

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

armies/troops (sainyāni)

stone-fragments/stone-dust (aśma-cūrṇa)

fireflies (khadyota)

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 underscores the ethical horror of war: once violence escalates, harm spreads widely and indiscriminately, and the battlefield becomes dominated by collective anguish rather than righteous order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes blazing stone-fragments flying about like swarms of fireflies; these strike the troops on all sides, and the armies, badly hurt, erupt into cries of distress (‘hāhā’).