Shloka 31

Devanagari script

तौ न्यवारयतां श्रेष्ठी संरब्धौी रणशोभिनौ । उदीरयेतां ब्रह्माणि दिव्यान्यस्त्राण्यनेकश:,संग्रामभूमिमें शोभा पानेवाले वे दोनों श्रेष्ठ वीर कुपित हो नाना प्रकारके दिव्यास्त्र एवं ब्रह्मास्त्र प्रकट करते हुए एक-दूसरेको आगे बढ़नेसे रोकने लगे

Transliteration

tau nyavārayatāṁ śreṣṭhī saṁrabdhau raṇaśobhinau | udīrayetāṁ brahmāṇi divyāny astrāṇy anekaśaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Ces deux guerriers d’élite, embrasés de colère et splendides sur le champ de bataille, se barrèrent mutuellement la route. Cherchant à dominer l’autre, ils déchaînèrent à maintes reprises quantité de traits célestes, jusqu’aux armes de Brahmā—une escalade qui révèle comment la fureur de la guerre pousse même les meilleurs des hommes vers des moyens toujours plus destructeurs.

Word by Word

तौthose two

न्यवारयताम्they two restrained / checked

श्रेष्ठीexcellent, foremost

संरब्धौenraged, excited

रणशोभिनौshining in battle

उदीरयेताम्they two set forth / discharged

ब्रह्माणिbrahma-weapons / brahmāstras

दिव्यानिdivine

अस्त्राणिmissile-weapons

अनेकशःin many ways / repeatedly

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

two foremost warriors (unnamed in this verse)

divyāni astrāṇi (celestial weapons)

brahmāṇi astrāṇi (Brahma-weapons)

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?

Even ‘the best’ warriors can be driven by anger to escalate conflict through ever more terrible means; the verse implicitly cautions that krodha (wrath) narrows judgment and pushes combat beyond restraint, raising ethical tension about proportionality and responsibility in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a fierce duel: two eminent fighters block each other’s advance on the battlefield and, in their fury, repeatedly release many divine missiles, including Brahma-class weapons, intensifying the combat.