Shloka 42

Devanagari script

धनुष्काशां शरावापां गदापरिघपन्नगाम्‌ | हंसच्छत्रध्वजोपेतामुष्णीषवरफेनिलाम्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

dhanuṣkāśāṁ śarāvāpāṁ gadā-parigha-pannagām |

haṁsa-cchatra-dhvajopetām uṣṇīṣa-vara-phenilām ||

Translation

તે નદીમાં ધનુષો કાસ સમાન, બાણ અંકુર સમાન; ગદા અને પરિઘ સર્પ સમાન. હંસ સમાન છત્ર-ધ્વજોથી શોભિત અને ઉત્તમ ઉષ્ણીષો ફેણ સમાન જણાતાં.

Word by Word

• धनुष्काशाम्: having bows as (its) reeds (kāśa-grass)
• धनुष्काशाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धनुस् + काश
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• शरावापाम्: having arrows as (its) sprouts/shoots
• शरावापाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर + वाप
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• गदापरिघपन्नगाम्: having maces and iron-bars as (its) serpents
• गदापरिघपन्नगाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गदा + परिघ + पन्नग
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• हंसच्छत्रध्वजोपेताम्: endowed with swan-like umbrellas and banners
• हंसच्छत्रध्वजोपेताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हंस + छत्र + ध्वज + उपेत
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• उष्णीषवरफेनिलाम्: foamy with excellent turbans (as foam)
• उष्णीषवरफेनिलाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उष्णीष + वर + फेनिल
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• bows (dhanuṣ)
• arrows (śara)
• quivers (āvāpa)
• maces (gadā)
• iron clubs (parigha)
• serpents (pannaga)
• parasols (cchatra)
• banners/standards (dhvaja)
• turbans (uṣṇīṣa)
• swans (haṁsa)
• river of blood (implicit battlefield river)
• Vaitaraṇī (implicit in the extended passage context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a stark battlefield simile—turning weapons and insignia into features of a ‘river’—to underline war’s moral weight: courage and self-mastery endure terror, while inner weakness (fear, lack of discipline) makes the same ordeal feel impossible to cross.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya poetically depicts the carnage of the battle as a river-like scene: bows resemble reeds, quivers form banks, maces and clubs appear like serpents, and parasols and banners look like swans, conveying the overwhelming, death-filled landscape created by the fighting.