Shloka 20

Droṇa Encircled at Night: Coalition Advance and Battlefield Omens (द्रोणपर्यावरणं रात्रियुद्धवर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

त॑ श्रुत्वा निनदं घोरें त्रैलेक्यत्रासनं महत्‌

Transliteration

taṁ śrutvā ninadaṁ ghoreṁ trailokyatrāsanaṁ mahat

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Mendengar raungan mengerikan itu—yang cukup untuk menebar gentar ke tiga dunia—para kesatria pun terguncang.

Word by Word

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), parasmaipada (usage-neutral here)

• निनदम्: roar, loud sound
• निनदम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: निनद
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• घोरम्: terrible
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• त्रैलेक्यत्रासनम्: terror (that) frightens the three worlds
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रैलेक्य-त्रासन
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• महत्: great, huge
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• the three worlds (trailokya)
• roar/sound (ninada)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how violence and aggression in war generate fear that spreads beyond individuals, symbolically shaking the entire moral and cosmic order; it cautions that actions in battle have consequences that reverberate widely.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes a terrifying, immense roar arising on the battlefield—so intense it is poetically said to frighten the three worlds—signaling a climactic escalation in the fighting.