Shloka 266

वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च

The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel

Devanagari script

आसीदू राजन्‌ बलौघानामन्योन्यमभिनिध्नताम्‌ । राजन! उस समय परस्पर प्रहार करनेवाली सेनाओंका कोलाहल प्रचण्ड वायुसे विक्षुब्ध हुए समुद्रोंकी गर्जनाके समान प्रतीत होता था

Transliteration

āsīdū rājan balaughānām anyonyam abhinighnatām |

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, at that time the tumult of the massed armies, striking one another in mutual assault, seemed like the roaring of oceans churned and heaved by a fierce wind—an image that underscores how war magnifies human aggression into a vast, impersonal force.

Word by Word

• आसीत्: was
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), 3, singular, परस्मैपद

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• बलौघानाम्: of the masses/hosts of armies
• Type: Noun
• Root: बलौघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• अन्योन्यम्: mutually, one another
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य (प्रातिपदिक)

• अभिनिध्नताम्: of (those) striking/assailing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि-नि-हन् (धातु) / अभिनिध्नत् (वर्तमान-कृदन्त प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, genitive, plural, शतृ (वर्तमान-कर्तरि)

Speaker

सयजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• armies (balaugha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a natural metaphor (storm-tossed oceans) to show how collective violence becomes overwhelming and dehumanizing; it implicitly cautions that war’s momentum can drown individual discernment and ethical restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the opposing armies are locked in mutual assault, and the battlefield’s uproar is so immense that it resembles the thunderous roar of seas agitated by a powerful wind.