Shloka 186

Matsya Purana — War of Devas and Dānavas: Yama and Kubera Defeated; Kālanemi’s Māyā and the A...

Devanagari script

विपर्यस्तरथासङ्गा निष्पिष्टध्वजपङ्क्तयः निर्भिन्नाङ्गैस्तुरंगैस्तु गजैश्चाचलसंनिभैः //

Transliteration

viparyastarathāsaṅgā niṣpiṣṭadhvajapaṅktayaḥ nirbhinnāṅgaisturaṃgaistu gajaiścācalasaṃnibhaiḥ //

Translation

Chariot-formations were overturned, rows of banners were crushed, and the field was filled with horses whose limbs were shattered, along with elephants towering like mountains.

Word by Word

• viparyasta: overturned, thrown into disorder

• ratha-saṅgāḥ: chariot-groups/formations

• niṣpiṣṭa: crushed, ground down

• dhvaja-paṅktayaḥ: rows/lines of banners and standards

• nirbhinna: broken, split, shattered

• aṅgaiḥ: in their limbs, with their limbs

• turaṃgaiḥ: by horses/with horses

• tu: and/indeed

• gajaiḥ: by elephants/with elephants

• ca: also

• acala-saṃnibhaiḥ: resembling mountains (lit. immovable ones)

Speaker

• Suta (Purana-narrator) describing the scene (battlefield narration within Matsya Purana’s royal/dharma narrative frame)

Entities Mentioned

• Ratha (chariots)
• Dhvaja (battle standards)
• Turaṅga (horses)
• Gaja (elephants)

Tags

• Rajadharma
• Battlefield
• War-poetics
• Kshatriya
• Epic-style narration

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse is not about Pralaya; it uses intense battlefield imagery—overturned chariots, crushed banners, and broken-limbed animals—to portray large-scale destruction within a war setting.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

In the Rajadharma frame, such scenes underline the grave cost of warfare and the king’s responsibility to wage war only when justified, protecting order (dharma) while minimizing needless devastation.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No Vastu/temple or ritual procedure is stated here; the only technical note is martial—dhvaja (standards) and ratha (chariot formations) as elements of classical Kshatriya warfare.