Shloka 27

अध्याय ५३ — रणमेघोपमा सेना-वर्णना तथा सुषेण-वधोत्तर प्रतिक्रिया

Battle-as-Storm Imagery and the Aftermath of Suṣeṇa’s Fall

Devanagari script

स विद्धलितसर्वाड़: प्रचचाल रथोत्तमे | भूमिकम्पे यथा वृक्षश्नचाल कम्पितो भूशम्‌,इससे सुकेतुका सारा शरीर विह्नल होकर उस उत्तम रथपर काँपने लगा; मानो भूकम्प आनेपर कोई वृक्ष जोर-जोरसे काँपने और झूमने लगा हो

Transliteration

sa viddhalita-sarvāṅgaḥ pracacāla rathottame | bhūmikampe yathā vṛkṣaś cacāla kampito bhṛśam ||

Translation

तीरों से विद्ध होकर उसके समस्त अंग शिथिल पड़ गये और वह उस उत्तम रथ पर काँपने लगा—जैसे भूकम्प से धरती हिलने पर कोई वृक्ष जोर-जोर से काँपता और झूमता हो।

Word by Word

सःhe/that (one)

विद्धलितसर्वाङ्गःwhose whole body was trembling/unnerved

प्रचचालshook, reeled, began to tremble

रथोत्तमेon/in the excellent chariot

भूमिकम्पेin an earthquake

यथाas, just as

वृक्षःa tree

चand

अचालshook, swayed

कम्पितःshaken

भूशम्greatly, exceedingly

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

ratha (chariot)

vṛkṣa (tree)

bhūmikampa (earthquake)

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 the fragility of bodily composure in war: even the strong can be physically overwhelmed. Ethically, it reminds the listener that battlefield glory is inseparable from suffering and the destabilizing power of violence and fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior (referred to as “he”) whose entire body becomes unsteady; he trembles on his chariot. The scene is intensified through a simile: he shakes like a tree violently swaying during an earthquake.