Shloka 53
Śiva’s Battlefield Manifestation and Vyāsa’s Śatarudrīya Exposition (शिवप्रादुर्भावः शतरुद्रीयव्याख्यानम्)
जित्वा रथसहस््राणि तावकानां महारथा: । सिंहनादरवांश्वक्रु: पाण्डवा जितकाशिन:,प्रजानाथ! विजयसे उललसित होनेवाले रणोन्मत्त पाण्डव महारथी आपके पुत्र दुर्योधन, कर्ण, द्रोणाचार्य तथा शूरवीर अश्वत्थामाके देखते-देखते आपकी सेनाके सहस्रों रथियोंको परास्त करके सिंहनाद करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | jitvā ratha-sahasrāṇi tāvakānāṁ mahā-rathāḥ | siṁha-nāda-ravāṁś cakruḥ pāṇḍavā jita-kāśinaḥ prajānātha |
Sañjaya said: Having vanquished thousands of chariots belonging to your side, the Pāṇḍava great chariot-warriors—exultant in victory—raised lion-like battle-cries, O lord of the people. In the ethical frame of the epic, the shout marks not mere pride but the surge of morale after overcoming overwhelming force, intensifying the tragic momentum of the war where prowess and duty collide with mounting destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how battlefield success fuels collective morale and momentum; ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s tension between rightful duty (kṣatriya action) and the escalating human cost of victory in war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Pāṇḍava elite warriors have defeated vast numbers of Kaurava chariot-units and, exhilarated by that success, raise loud lion-like victory cries.