Shloka 37

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ रात्रिमुखे घोरे महाशब्दनिनादिते

Transliteration

tasmin rātrimukhe ghore mahāśabdaninādite

Translation

Sañjaya said: At that dreadful onset of night, resounding with a great tumult, the battlefield grew ominous—darkness gathered, yet the clamor of war did not abate, heightening fear and moral tension amid the slaughter that still went on.

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• रात्रि-मुखे: at the beginning of the night
• रात्रि-मुखे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रात्रि + मुख
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• घोरे: terrible
• घोरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• महा-शब्द-निनादिते: resounding with great noise
• महा-शब्द-निनादिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा + शब्द + निनादित
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war’s momentum can persist even as night falls, intensifying confusion and dread; ethically, it hints at the erosion of restraint when darkness and uproar overwhelm clarity and self-control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya sets the scene: night is beginning, and the surroundings are terrifying, filled with loud reverberating sounds—an atmospheric transition that frames the next events in the battle.