Shloka 39

Devanagari script

एवं महच्छस्त्रवर्ष सृजन्त- स्ते यातुधाना भुवि घोररूपा: । मायासृष्टास्तत्र घटोत्कचेन नामुज्चन्‌ वै याचमानं न भीतम्‌,इस प्रकार बड़ी भारी शस्त्रवर्षा करते हुए वे निशाचर इस भूतलपर भयंकर रूप धारण करके प्रकट हुए थे। घटोत्कचकी मायासे उनकी सृष्टि हुई थी। वे डरे हुए तथा प्राणोंकी भिक्षा माँगते हुएको भी नहीं छोड़ते थे

Transliteration

evaṁ mahācchastravarṣaṁ sṛjantaste yātudhānā bhuvi ghorarūpāḥ | māyāsṛṣṭāstatra ghaṭotkacena nāmuñcan vai yācamānaṁ na bhītam ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Demikianlah, sambil menumpahkan hujan senjata yang dahsyat, para yātudhāna itu menampakkan diri di bumi dalam rupa yang mengerikan. Diciptakan oleh sihir Ghaṭotkaca, mereka tidak mengampuni bahkan orang yang ketakutan dan memohon nyawanya.”

Word by Word

• {'evaṁ': 'thus

• in this manner', 'mahā': 'great

• immense', 'śastra-varṣa': 'a shower/rain of weapons', 'sṛjant(aḥ)': 'creating

• sending forth', 'te': 'they', 'yātudhānāḥ': 'demonic beings

• night-roaming rākṣasa-like entities', 'bhuvi': 'on the earth

• on the ground', 'ghora-rūpāḥ': 'of dreadful/terrifying form', 'māyā': 'magic

• supernatural artifice', 'sṛṣṭāḥ': 'created

• produced', 'tatra': 'there

• in that place', 'ghaṭotkacena': 'by Ghaṭotkaca (instrumental)', 'na': 'not', 'muñcan (amuñcan)': 'they released/spared

• let go', 'vai': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'yācamānam': 'one who is begging/imploring', 'bhītam': 'frightened

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Ghaṭotkaca
• Yātudhānas (demonic/night-roaming beings)
• Śastra (weapons)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how warfare can descend into ruthless, fear-driven violence, especially when amplified by deceptive power (māyā). Ethically, it points to the erosion of restraint: when combatants no longer spare even the pleading and terrified, the battle moves further from dharma toward adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes terrifying yātudhānas appearing on the battlefield, created through Ghaṭotkaca’s magical power. These beings unleash a heavy shower of weapons and show no mercy, not even to those who beg for their lives in fear.