Shloka 40

Devanagari script

असुरा यातुधानाश्न गुहाकाश्न परंतप

Transliteration

asurā yātudhānāś ca guhākāś ca parantapa

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Asuras, Yātudhānas, and the cave-dwelling beings too—O scorcher of foes—(were there, assembled in array).”

Word by Word

• असुराः: Asuras (demons)
• असुराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: असुर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यातुधानाः: Yātudhānas (a class of demons/ghouls)
• यातुधानाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यातुधान
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• गुहकाः: Guhakas (a class of beings/spirits; attendants of Kubera)
• गुहकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुहक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• परंतप: O scorcher of foes (epithet)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परंतप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Asuras
• Yātudhānas
• Guhākas (cave-dwellers)
• Parantapa (epithet of the addressed king/hero)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war is not only a clash of armies but also a moral-psychological ordeal: when violence escalates, the narrative depicts it as attracting or resembling ‘asuric’ forces—symbols of chaos, cruelty, and loss of ethical restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues his battlefield report, describing the presence/appearance of fearsome non-human groups—Asuras, Yātudhānas, and cave-dwellers—thereby intensifying the atmosphere of dread and the sense that the conflict has become cosmically and morally charged.