Shloka 21

Adhyāya 40 (Book 7, Droṇa-parva): Abhimanyu’s Rapid Advance and Battlefield Disruption

Devanagari script

ततो5भवन्महायुद्ध॑ त्वदीयानां परै: सह

Transliteration

tato 'bhavan mahāyuddhaṁ tvadīyānāṁ paraiḥ saha

Translation

Alors s’éleva une grande bataille entre tes troupes et celles de l’ennemi. Le conflit s’envenima jusqu’à devenir une guerre à grande échelle, annonçant le lourd tribut moral et humain qui s’ensuit lorsque parents et rivaux, tous ensemble, sont poussés à une violence sans relâche.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable adverb)

• abhavat: arose, happened, came to be
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū
• Form: Luṅ (aorist), parasmaipada, 3rd person, singular

• mahāyuddham: a great battle
• mahāyuddham: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahāyuddha
• Form: Neuter, nominative, singular

• tvadīyānām: of your people/men
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tvadīya
• Form: Masculine, genitive, plural

• paraiḥ: with the enemies/others
• paraiḥ: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: para
• Form: Masculine, instrumental, plural

• saha: together with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: saha
• Form: Avyaya (postposition governing instrumental)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duryodhana (implied by address 'tvadīya')
• Kaurava forces (tvadīyāḥ)
• Pandava forces (parāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how quickly hostility culminates in 'mahāyuddha'—a totalizing war—hinting at the ethical gravity of choices that propel communities into large-scale violence and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that a great battle has erupted between the king’s side (the Kauravas) and their opponents (the Pandavas), marking an intensification of the fighting in the Drona Parva context.