Shloka 383

Devanagari script

अनभिश्ञेयरूपां च प्रदग्धामस्त्रतेजसा । वहाँ हमलोगोंने अद्भुत दृश्य देखा। पाण्डवोंकी वह सारी अक्षौहिणी उस अस्त्रके तेजसे इस प्रकार दग्ध एवं नष्ट हो गयी थी कि उसे पहचानना असम्भव हो गया

Transliteration

anabhiśñeyarūpāṁ ca pradagdhām astratejasā | tatra vayaṁ lokāḥ adbhutaṁ dṛśyaṁ dadṛśima | pāṇḍavānāṁ sā sarvā akṣauhiṇī tasya astrasya tejasā evaṁ dagdhā ca naṣṭā ca abhavat yathā tāṁ pratyabhijñātuṁ na śakyate |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Burned by the blazing power of that weapon, the army was reduced to a form beyond recognition. There we witnessed a truly astonishing sight: the entire Pandava host was so scorched and destroyed by the radiance of that missile that it became impossible to identify.” The verse underscores the terrifying, ethically fraught excess of astric warfare—where victory is purchased at the cost of indiscriminate devastation and the erasure of human distinctness.

Word by Word

अनभिज्ञेयरूपाम्having a form impossible to recognize

चand

प्रदग्धाम्burnt, scorched

अस्त्रतेजसाby the brilliance/power of the weapon

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pandavas

akṣauhiṇī (army host)

astra (weapon/missile)

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 the moral peril of unrestrained weapon-power: when astras are unleashed, destruction can become so total that individuality and humane limits vanish, challenging dharma and the ethics of warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a powerful astra has burned the Pandavas’ entire akṣauhiṇī so completely that the troops are left unrecognizable—an awe-inspiring yet horrifying spectacle on the battlefield.