Shloka 40

Devanagari script

योधास्ते तु महाराज क्रोधामर्षसमन्विता:,महाराज! क्रोध और अमर्षमें भरे हुए वे परस्पर स्पर्धा रखनेवाले, विजयके लिये प्रयत्मशील और विशाल धनुष धारण करनेवाले धनुर्थर योद्धा मतवाले गजराजोंके समान एक-दूसरेसे जूझ रहे थे

Transliteration

yodhās te tu mahārāja krodhāmarṣa-samanvitāḥ paraspara-spardhino jaya-kṛta-prayatnavantaḥ vipula-dhanur-dhārino dhanurdharā mattā iva gajarājāḥ anyonyaṃ samayudhyanta

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, those warriors—filled with wrath and wounded pride—vied with one another, striving for victory. Bearing great bows, the bowmen grappled fiercely, like intoxicated lordly elephants locked in combat. The scene reveals how anger and rivalry, once unleashed, drive men to relentless violence on the battlefield.

Word by Word

• yodhāḥ: warriors
• yodhāḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: yodhá (प्रातिपदिक: योध)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• te: those
• te: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक: तद्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• tu: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu

• mahārāja: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahārāja (प्रातिपदिक: महाराज)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• krodha-amārṣa-samanvitāḥ: endowed with anger and indignation
• krodha-amārṣa-samanvitāḥ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samanvita (कृदन्त; धातु: सम्-√इ (एति) / समन्वि-भावे; प्रातिपदिक: समन्वित)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja')
• warriors (yodhāḥ)
• bows (dhanuḥ)
• elephant-kings (gajarājāḥ, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how krodha (anger) and amarṣa (resentful pride) intensify rivalry and propel combatants into destructive, uncontrolled violence—suggesting an ethical warning about passions that eclipse discernment even among disciplined warriors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where bow-bearing warriors, competing with one another for victory, clash fiercely; their frenzy is compared to intoxicated elephant-kings fighting head-on.