Shloka 36

Devanagari script

गन्धर्वनगराकारं घोरमायोधनं तदा

Transliteration

gandharvanagarākāraṃ ghoramāyodhanaṃ tadā

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Saat itu medan laga yang mengerikan itu tampak laksana kota para Gandharva—sebuah pemandangan menakjubkan namun ilusif, ngeri rupanya.”

Word by Word

• गन्धर्वनगराकारम्: having the form of a Gandharva-city (illusory city)
• गन्धर्वनगराकारम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गन्धर्वनगराकार
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• घोरम्: terrible
• घोरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आयोधनम्: battle, battlefield
• आयोधनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयोधन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तदा: then, at that time
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Gandharva (as a class of beings)
• battlefield (āyodhana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war can overwhelm perception: the battlefield becomes a dazzling yet terrifying spectacle, suggesting that human experience in extreme violence is often marked by confusion, unreality, and moral disorientation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the combat scene at that moment looked like a magical ‘Gandharva-city’—a wondrous but deceptive vision—underscoring the intensity and bewildering nature of the fighting.