Shloka 3

सेनापति-निर्णयः तथा पाण्डवसेनायाः कुरुक्षेत्रगमनम्

Decision on Command and the Pandavas’ March to Kurukshetra

Devanagari script

आज्ञापयच्च राज्ञस्तान्‌ पार्थिवान्‌ नष्टचेतस: । प्रयाध्व॑ वै कुरुक्षेत्रं पुष्योडद्येति पुन: पुन:,ज्ञात हुआ है, दुर्योधनने उन विवेकशून्य राजाओं-को यह बार-बार आज्ञा दे दी कि तुम सब लोग कुरुक्षेत्रको चलो। आज पुष्य नक्षत्र है

Transliteration

ājñāpayac ca rājñas tān pārthivān naṣṭa-cetasaḥ | prayādhvaṃ vai kuru-kṣetraṃ puṣyodye iti punaḥ punaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu said: “And he repeatedly commanded those kings—earthly rulers whose judgment had been lost—‘Set out at once for Kurukṣetra; today is the rising of the Puṣya constellation.’”

Word by Word

• {'ājñāpayat': 'commanded, ordered', 'rājñaḥ': 'kings', 'tān': 'those (persons)', 'pārthivān': 'earthly rulers, kings (lit. ‘of the earth’)', 'naṣṭa-cetasaḥ': 'those whose minds/discernment are ruined

• deluded', 'prayādhvam': 'set out, depart (2nd person plural imperative)', 'vai': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)', 'kuru-kṣetram': 'Kurukṣetra (field/region of the Kurus)', 'puṣya-udaye': 'at the rising of Puṣya (nakṣatra)

• when Puṣya is ascendant', 'iti': 'thus (quotative)', 'punaḥ punaḥ': 'again and again

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• kings (pārthivāḥ)
• Kurukṣetra
• Puṣya (nakṣatra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how loss of discernment (naṣṭa-cetasaḥ) makes even rulers act mechanically under a leader’s repeated commands, showing an ethical warning: when judgment is eclipsed by ambition or group pressure, decisions—especially about war—become driven by impulse and auspicious timing rather than dharmic reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

A leader is repeatedly instructing allied kings to march to Kurukṣetra, citing the day’s Puṣya nakṣatra as the chosen time to depart. Vāyu narrates this as part of the mobilization toward the impending conflict.