Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 263

शल्यवधे कौरवसेनाभङ्गः, भीमस्य गदायुद्धं, दुर्योधनस्य समाह्वानम्

Rout after Śalya’s fall; Bhīma’s mace engagement; Duryodhana’s rally

Devanagari script

इत्यासीत्‌ तुमुल: शब्दस्तव सैन्यस्य भारत । भारत! उस समय आपकी सेनामें “मार डालो, घायल करो, पकड़ लो, प्रहार करो और टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर डालो” यह भयंकर शब्द गूँज रहा था

Transliteration

ity āsīt tumulaḥ śabdas tava sainyasya bhārata

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Thus there arose a tumultuous roar within your army, O Bhārata—an awful chorus of war-cries: ‘Kill! Wound! Seize! Strike! Cut to pieces!’”

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• आसीत्: was
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (imperfect/past), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• तुमुलः: tumultuous, loud
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तुमुल
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• शब्दः: sound, noise
• शब्दः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शब्द
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• तव: of you, your
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: genitive, singular, 2nd

• सैन्यस्य: of the army
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्य
• Form: neuter, genitive, singular

• भारत: O Bharata
• Type: Noun (proper/vocative)
• Root: भारत
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Bhārata)
• Kaurava army (tava sainya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical danger of war’s momentum: when violence becomes a communal chant—‘kill, wound, seize’—moral restraint and discrimination are easily eclipsed. It implicitly contrasts disciplined duty with uncontrolled bloodlust.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a great uproar rose in the Kaurava ranks. The battlefield resounded with harsh commands and cries urging killing, wounding, capturing, striking, and dismembering—signaling intense, chaotic combat.