Shloka 41

Droṇasya raudra-prayogaḥ

Droṇa’s intensified assault and the Pāṇḍava response

Devanagari script

ततः प्रववृते युद्ध परस्परवधैषिणाम्‌

Transliteration

tataḥ pravavṛte yuddhaṃ parasparavadhaiṣiṇām

Translation

संजय बोले—तब परस्पर-वध की इच्छा रखने वालों का युद्ध सचमुच प्रवृत्त हुआ। विरोधी वीर एक-दूसरे के विनाश पर तुलकर निकट आए—दोनों ओर से मारने का दृढ़ निश्चय। यह दृश्य संयम के क्षय का कठोर संकेत है, जहाँ प्रतिस्पर्धा एक साझा संहार-इच्छा में बदल जाती है।

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

प्रववृतेarose, began, commenced

युद्धम्battle, war

परस्पर-वधैषिणाम्of those desiring mutual slaughter (of one another)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

yuddha (the battle)

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 war, once unleashed, becomes reciprocal and self-perpetuating: when both sides seek each other’s death, ethical restraint (dharma as self-control and proportion) is eclipsed by the shared intention to destroy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the fighting now fully breaks out: the combatants on both sides engage directly, driven by mutual hostility and the desire to kill one another.