Shloka 28

Devanagari script

तस्य पक्षप्रपक्षेभ्यो निष्पतन्ति युयुत्सव: । पत्त्यश्चरथमातज्जा: प्रावषीव बलाहका:,उसके पक्ष और प्रपक्षोंसे युद्धके इच्छुक पैदल, घुड़सवार, रथी और गजारोही योद्धा उसी प्रकार निकल पड़ते थे, जैसे वर्षाकालमें मेघ प्रकट होते हैं

Transliteration

tasya pakṣa-prapakṣebhyo niṣpatanti yuyutsavaḥ | patty-aśva-ratha-mātaṅgāḥ prāvṛṣi iva balāhakāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: From his wings and counter-wings, warriors eager for battle surged forth—infantry, horsemen, charioteers, and elephant-riders—appearing in mass like rain-clouds rising in the monsoon.

Word by Word

तस्यof him/its

पक्ष-प्रपक्षेभ्यःfrom the wings and the subsidiary wings/flanks

निष्पतन्तिrush out / sally forth

युयुत्सवःdesirous of fighting

पत्त्यःfoot-soldiers

चand

रथ-मातङ्ग-जाःcharioteers and elephant-riders (lit. those of chariots and elephants)

प्रावृषिin the rainy season

इवlike/as

बलाहकाःclouds

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

army wings (pakṣa, prapakṣa)

infantry (patti)

cavalry (aśva)

chariots (ratha)

elephants (mātaṅga)

rain-clouds (balāhaka)

monsoon season (prāvṛṣ)

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 uses a monsoon-cloud simile to highlight how war, once set in motion, gathers force and spreads irresistibly. Ethically, it underscores the grave, collective consequence of martial ambition: individual eagerness to fight becomes a mass surge that can overwhelm discernment and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battle formation whose flanks (wings and counter-wings) release successive bodies of troops—foot-soldiers, horsemen, charioteers, and elephant-riders—pouring out in great numbers, like clouds appearing in the rainy season.