Shloka 30

Devanagari script

उन दोनों महाबली और विशालकाय राक्षसोंने परस्पर आक्रमण करके दोनों हाथोंसे दोनोंके केश पकड़ लिये ।। तौ स्थिन्नगात्रौ प्रस्वेदं सुखुवाते जनाधिप । रुधिरं च महाकायावतिवृष्टाविवाम्बुदौ

Transliteration

tau sthinnagātrau prasvedaṃ sukhuvāte janādhipa | rudhiraṃ ca mahākāyāv ativṛṣṭāv ivāmbudau ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Ô roi, ces deux rākṣasas, puissants et gigantesques, se refermèrent l’un sur l’autre et, dans l’étreinte du corps à corps, chacun saisit des deux mains les cheveux de son adversaire. Leurs corps se raidissaient sous l’effort, haletants de sueur ; et le sang ruisselait de ces vastes carcasses, comme si deux nuées de pluie se déversaient en une averse furieuse.

Word by Word

तौthose two

स्थिन्नwounded, bruised

गात्रौbodies/limbs

प्रस्वेदम्sweat

सुखुवातेthey poured forth/oozed

जनाधिपO lord of men (king)

रुधिरम्blood

चand

महाकायौhuge-bodied (two)

अतिवृष्टौheavily rained upon / in heavy rain

इवlike, as if

अम्बुदौtwo clouds

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Janādhipa (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

two rākṣasas (unnamed in this verse)

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 underscores the raw, dehumanizing intensity of battle: when conflict escalates into sheer physical domination, suffering (sweat and blood) becomes inevitable. It implicitly cautions that war magnifies brute force and pain, reminding the listener to weigh the ethical cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two gigantic rākṣasa warriors who rush at each other, grapple at close quarters, and seize one another’s hair with both hands. Their bodies tense up from exertion; they pant and sweat, and blood pours from them like rain from storm-clouds.