Shloka 29

Adhyāya 110: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament on Fate; Saṃjaya’s Reproof and the Princes’ Assault on Bhīma (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय ११०)

Devanagari script

उच्चावचास्तथा वाचो व्याजहार समन्ततः । निपेतुर्गगनाच्चैव शरधारा: सहस्रश:

Transliteration

uccāvacās tathā vāco vyājahāra samantataḥ | nipetur gaganāc caiva śaradhārāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Dari segala penjuru terdengar pekik beraneka ragam—tinggi dan rendah; dan dari langit sendiri jatuhlah aliran anak panah, beribu-ribu banyaknya.

Word by Word

उच्चावचाःhigh and low, various

तथाthus, likewise

वाचःwords, utterances

व्याजहारuttered, spoke

समन्ततःon all sides, all around

निपेतुःfell down

गगनात्from the sky

चand

एवindeed, just

शरधाराःstreams/showers of arrows

सहस्रशःby thousands, in thousands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

श

शर (arrows)

ग

गगन (sky)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war amplifies confusion and suffering: many conflicting cries arise, and violence multiplies uncontrollably (symbolized by ‘torrents of arrows’). It implicitly cautions that once battle is unleashed, ethical restraint is easily drowned by collective frenzy.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield atmosphere: from every direction come varied shouts and cries, while massive volleys of arrows descend as if from the sky, indicating an intense phase of fighting with widespread missile exchanges.