Shloka 37

Devanagari script

रजसा तमसा चैव संवृते भृशदारुणे । केवल नामगोत्रेण प्रायुध्यन्त जयैषिण:,धूल और अंधकारसे छाये हुए उस अत्यन्त भयंकर संग्राममें विजयाभिलाषी योद्धा केवल नाम और गोत्रका परिचय पाकर युद्ध करते थे

Transliteration

rajasā tamasā caiva saṁvṛte bhṛśadāruṇe | kevalaṁ nāmagotreṇa prāyudhyanta jayaiṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Dans cette bataille d’une effroyable âpreté, enveloppée de poussière et de ténèbres, les guerriers avides de victoire se battaient, ne se reconnaissant que par la simple annonce du nom et de la lignée.

Word by Word

रजसाby dust

तमसाby darkness

चand

एवindeed/just

संवृतेcovered/filled (in which it was covered)

भृशदारुणेin the exceedingly dreadful (battle)

केवलम्only/merely

नामगोत्रेणby (knowing) name and lineage

प्रायुध्यन्तthey fought

जयैषिणःdesirous of victory

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

battlefield (the war)

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 the fog of war—dust and darkness—erodes clarity and humane discernment. When perception collapses, fighters rely on minimal identity markers (name and gotra) and act primarily from the urge to win, suggesting an ethical warning about how violence reduces persons to labels and targets.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield conditions as so dust-filled and dark that combatants cannot clearly see. In that confusion, they identify opponents only by shouted introductions of name and lineage, and then continue fighting with victory as their overriding aim.