Shloka 27

Devanagari script

किंकिणीशतसंह्वादो भ्राजंश्रित्रो रथोत्तमे । व्यभ्राजत भृशं राजन्‌ पुत्रस्तव विशाम्पते

Transliteration

kiṅkiṇīśata-saṃhvādo bhrājañ śrītro rathottame | vyabhrājata bhṛśaṃ rājan putras tava viśāmpate ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, lord of the people, your son shone forth brilliantly upon that excellent chariot—resounding with the clamor of hundreds of tinkling bells—radiant and splendid, as the battle’s pageantry and peril gathered around him.”

Word by Word

किंकिणीशतसंह्वादःhaving the sound of a hundred tinkling bells

भ्राजंश्रित्रःshining, splendid

रथःchariot

उत्तमेon/among the best (chariots)

व्यभ्राजतshone forth

भृशम्greatly, exceedingly

राजन्O king

पुत्रःson

तवof you, your

विशाम्पतेO lord of the people

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

King Dhṛtarāṣṭra

your son (Duryodhana, in context)

excellent chariot (rathottama)

tinkling bells (kiṅkiṇī)

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 highlights how outward brilliance—royal splendor, martial display, and the intoxicating aesthetics of war—can captivate attention even amid grave ethical stakes. It implicitly contrasts appearance (radiance, pomp) with the deeper moral consequences unfolding in the conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how the king’s son appears on an excellent chariot, loudly resonant with many bells and shining intensely—an image of conspicuous martial grandeur as the battle scene progresses.