Shloka 36

Devanagari script

तौ शूरौ समरे राजन्‌ परस्परकृतागसौ । परस्परमुदीक्षेतां क्रोधादुद्वृत्य चक्षुषी,राजन! परस्पर अपराध करनेवाले वे दोनों शूरवीर समरांगणमें क्रोधसे आँखें फाड़- फाड़कर एक-दूसरेकी ओर देख रहे थे

Transliteration

tau śūrāv samare rājan parasparakṛtāgasau | parasparam udīkṣetāṁ krodhād udvṛtya cakṣuṣī ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: Oh rey, aquellos dos guerreros heroicos—habiéndose agraviado mutuamente—se mantuvieron en el campo de batalla, fulminándose con la mirada. En su ira, abrieron los ojos de par en par y fijaron la vista el uno en el otro, mientras la enemistad maduraba hasta convertirse en combate abierto.

Word by Word

तौthose two

शूरौheroes/warriors

समरेin battle

राजन्O king

परस्पर-कृत-आगसौhaving committed offense against each other

परस्परम्each other (mutually)

उदीक्षेताम्they two looked at

क्रोधात्from/owing to anger

उद्वृत्यhaving widened/rolled up (opened wide)

चक्षुषीthe two eyes

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how mutual wrongdoing (āgas) and unchecked anger (krodha) narrow perception and harden hostility. Ethically, it points to the self-reinforcing cycle of offense and retaliation in war: when each side sees itself as wronged and the other as guilty, wrath dominates judgment and reconciliation becomes unlikely.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that two opposing heroes on the battlefield, each considering the other an offender, are staring each other down. Their eyes are widened in rage as they prepare to engage, signaling an imminent clash driven by personal animosity as much as martial duty.