Shloka 23

Devanagari script

भ्रान्तसर्वमहाभूतमावर्तितदिवाकरम्‌ | त्रैलोक्यमभिसंतप्तं ज्वराविष्टमिवाभवत्‌,सम्पूर्ण महाभूत मानो चक्कर काट रहे थे। सूर्य भी घूमता-सा प्रतीत होता था। तीनों लोकोंके प्राणी ज्वरग्रस्तके समान संतप्त हो उठे थे

Transliteration

bhrāntasarvamahābhūtam āvartitadivākaram | trailokyam abhisantaptaṃ jvarāviṣṭam ivābhavat ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “All the great elements seemed to reel in confusion, and even the sun appeared to whirl. The three worlds grew intensely scorched, as though seized by a burning fever.”

Word by Word

भ्रान्तbewildered, reeling

सर्वall

महाभूतम्the great elements (the elemental world)

आवर्तितwhirled, made to revolve

दिवाकरम्the sun

त्रैलोक्यम्the three worlds

अभिसंतप्तम्scorched, intensely heated

ज्वराविष्टम्seized by fever

इवas if, like

अभवत्became, was

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

divākara (the Sun)

trailokya (the three worlds)

mahābhūta (the great elements)

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 that adharma-driven violence does not remain confined to combatants; it radiates outward as universal distress, symbolized by nature itself seeming disordered and all realms feeling ‘fevered’—a moral warning about the far-reaching consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a terrifying, omen-like atmosphere during the war: the elements appear to spin in confusion, the sun seems to whirl, and the three worlds feel scorched as if afflicted by fever, heightening the sense of catastrophic intensity.