Shloka 36

Devanagari script

प्राहिणोन्मृत्युलोकाय गणान्‌ क्रुद्धों वृकोदर: । क्रोधमें भरे हुए भीमसेनने अम्बष्ठ, मालव, वंग, शिबि तथा त्रिगर्तदेशके योद्धाओंको मृत्युके लोकमें भेज दिया

Transliteration

prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya gaṇān kruddho vṛkodaraḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Enraged, Vṛkodara (Bhīma) dispatched whole bands of warriors to the realm of Death—cutting down the fighters of the Ambastha, Mālava, Vaṅga, Śibi, and Trigarta lands. The verse underscores the grim moral tension of war: wrath becomes a force that swiftly turns duty on the battlefield into mass destruction, where victory is purchased by lives sent to Yama’s domain.

Word by Word

• प्राहिणोत्: sent forth; dispatched
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-हिण् (हिणोति)
• Form: Aorist (luṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मृत्युलोकाय: to the world of Death
• मृत्युलोकाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्युलोक
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• गणान्: troops; groups
• गणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• क्रुद्धः: enraged
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रुद्ध (√क्रुध्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वृकोदरः: Vṛkodara (Bhīma)
• वृकोदरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृकोदर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संयज उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Vṛkodara (Bhīmasena)
• Mṛtyuloka (realm of Death/Yama)
• Ambastha
• Mālava
• Vaṅga
• Śibi
• Trigarta

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) intensifies the destructiveness of war: even when fighting is framed as kṣatriya-duty, wrath can turn combat into indiscriminate slaughter, reminding the reader of the ethical peril of letting rage govern action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīma, furious on the battlefield, is cutting down entire groups of enemy warriors—specifically those identified with the Ambastha, Mālava, Vaṅga, Śibi, and Trigarta regions—sending them to ‘mṛtyuloka,’ the realm of Death.