Shloka 20

Devanagari script

ख्याता दहदहा चैव तथा धमधमा नृप । खण्डखण्डा च राजेन्द्र पूषणा मणिकुट्टिका

Transliteration

khyātā dahadahā caiva tathā dhamadhamā nṛpa | khaṇḍakhaṇḍā ca rājendra pūṣaṇā maṇikuṭṭikā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Oh rey, había también (armas y proyectiles) célebres con los nombres de Dahadahā y Dhamadhamā; y, oh señor de reyes, (otros) llamados Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā, Pūṣaṇā y Maṇikuṭṭikā.» En el lúgubre escenario de la guerra, el relato cataloga instrumentos temibles cuyos propios nombres evocan quemar, golpear y despedazar, subrayando que, una vez desatada, la violencia multiplica sus formas e intensifica el sufrimiento.

Word by Word

ख्याताwell-known, famed

दहदहा‘dahadahā’ (a named sound/cry; onomatopoeia)

चand

एवindeed, just

तथाlikewise, so

धमधमा‘dhamadhamā’ (a named sound/cry; onomatopoeia)

नृपO king

खण्डखण्डाbroken into pieces, fragmentary

चand

राजेन्द्रO lord of kings

पूषणाby Pūṣan (the Sun-god)

मणिकुट्टिकाMaṇikuṭṭikā (a proper name; lit. ‘gem-crusher’)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

nṛpa (the king addressed)

Dahadahā

Dhamadhamā

Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā

Pūṣaṇā

Maṇikuṭṭikā

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 functions as a stark reminder that war is not a single act but an expanding system of harm: even the named instruments of battle embody burning, pounding, and fragmentation, pointing to how violence proliferates and deepens suffering when dharma is eclipsed by hostility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is enumerating notable weapons or missiles present in the conflict, listing them by their traditional names—Dahadahā, Dhamadhamā, Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā, Pūṣaṇā, and Maṇikuṭṭikā—within the broader war narrative of the Śalya Parva.