Shloka 40

Devanagari script

एवं द्वन्द्शशतान्यासंस्त्वदीयानां परै:ः सह । घोररूपाणि चित्राणि तत्र तत्र विशाम्पते,प्रजानाथ! इस प्रकार जहाँ-तहाँ आपके सैनिकोंके शत्रुओंके साथ सैकड़ों भयानक एवं विचित्र द्वन्द्ययुद्ध होने लगे

Transliteration

evaṃ dvandvaśatāny āsan tvadīyānāṃ paraiḥ saha | ghorarūpāṇi citrāṇi tatra tatra viśāṃpate prajānātha ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Thus, O lord of the people, there arose here and there hundreds of single combats between your warriors and their foes—terrible in aspect and strange in their variety—as the battle broke into countless personal duels.

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

द्वन्द्व-शतानिhundreds of duels

आसन्were

त्वदीयानाम्of your (people/soldiers)

परैःwith/against the enemies (others)

सहtogether with

घोर-रूपाणिterrible in form

चित्राणिvariegated, strange, wondrous

तत्रthere

तत्रthere (here and there)

विशाम्-पतेO lord of the people

प्रजा-नाथO ruler/lord of subjects

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Dhritarashtra (implied by vocatives viśāṃpate, prajānātha)

Kaurava forces (tvadīyāḥ, implied)

Opposing forces/enemies (parāḥ, implied)

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 the fragmentation of war into innumerable personal duels, highlighting the grim ethical tension of kṣatriya valor expressed through violence: courage and skill appear, yet the overall scene is dreadful and morally weighty, reminding the listener that kingship and warfare entail responsibility for widespread suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that across the battlefield, in many different spots, hundreds of one-on-one fights erupted between the Kaurava warriors and their opponents, each duel appearing terrifying and unusually varied.