Shloka 18

Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)

Devanagari script

भीरूणां त्रासजननी शूराणां हर्षवर्धिनी

Transliteration

bhīrūṇāṃ trāsajananī śūrāṇāṃ harṣavardhinī

Translation

Sañjaya said: “She becomes the very source of terror for the fearful, yet the increaser of joy for the brave.”

Word by Word

• भीरूणाम्: of the timid/cowards
• भीरूणाम्: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीरु
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• त्रासजननी: producer/mother of fear (causing terror)
• त्रासजननी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रास-जननी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• शूराणाम्: of the heroes/brave
• शूराणाम्: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूर
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• हर्षवर्धिनी: increaser of joy (gladdening)
• हर्षवर्धिनी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हर्ष-वर्धिनी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a moral-psychological contrast: the same battlefield stimulus becomes terror to the timid but joy to the courageous. It implies that inner disposition—steadfastness versus fear—determines one’s experience and ethical standing in crisis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war, describes a force or presence whose impact differs by temperament: it frightens those lacking courage and heartens the heroic, intensifying their confidence and zeal.