Shloka 39

Vāg-yuddha and Nimitta-darśana before the Gadāyuddha

Verbal Duel and Omens

Devanagari script

गजाविव सुसंरब्धौ ज्वलिताविव पावकौ

Transliteration

gajāvivā susaṃrabdhau jvalitāvivā pāvakau

Translation

Sañjaya said: The two, fiercely enraged, were like elephants in musth; blazing with wrath, they were like fires set alight—an image of how unchecked anger in war turns strength into consuming destruction.

Word by Word

• गजौ: two elephants
• गजौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• इव: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• सुसंरब्धौ: both greatly enraged/impetuous
• सुसंरब्धौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुसंरब्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• ज्वलितौ: both blazing
• ज्वलितौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्वलित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• इव: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• पावकौ: two fires
• पावकौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पावक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• elephants (gaja)
• fire (pāvaka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how anger and battle-fury, though arising from power and courage, can become self-consuming like fire; ethical restraint is implied as the antidote to destructive rage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two combatants (implied from context) locked in intense confrontation, comparing their ferocity to maddened elephants and their blazing wrath to fire.