Shloka 37

Devanagari script

गृह्नीताद्रवतान्योन्यं विभीता विनिकृन्तत

Transliteration

gṛhṇītādravatānyonyaṃ vibhītā vinikṛntata

Translation

Sañjaya said: In panic, the warriors seized and struck at one another as they rushed about—fear driving them into mutual slaughter amid the confusion of battle.

Word by Word

• गृह्णीत: seize / take (you all)!
• गृह्णीत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह्
• Form: लोट्, परस्मैपदम्, मध्यम, बहुवचनम्

• द्रवत: they run / are fleeing
• द्रवत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: द्रु
• Form: लट्, परस्मैपदम्, प्रथम, बहुवचनम्

• अन्योन्यम्: one another / mutually
• अन्योन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य

• विभीताः: frightened
• विभीताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विभीत
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्

• विनिकृन्तत: they cut down / they hewed
• विनिकृन्तत: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृत्
• Form: लङ्, परस्मैपदम्, प्रथम, बहुवचनम्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how fear and confusion in war can eclipse discernment and restraint, leading to indiscriminate harm—even against one’s own side—serving as an implicit warning about the moral and human cost of uncontrolled violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a moment of battlefield turmoil where terrified fighters, running in disorder, end up grabbing and cutting down one another in mutual confusion.