Shloka 52

Devanagari script

स पाज्चजन्यो<च्युतवक्त्रवायुना भृशं सुपूर्णोदरनि:सृत ध्वनि: । जगत्‌ सपातालवियद्दिगीश्ररं प्रकम्पयामास युगात्यये यथा,भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्णके मुखकी वायुसे भीतरी भाग भर जानेके कारण अत्यन्त भयंकर ध्वनि प्रकट करनेवाले पांचजन्यने आकाश, पाताल, दिशा और दिक्पालोंसहित सम्पूर्ण जगत्‌को कम्पित कर दिया, मानो प्रलयकाल आ गया हो

Transliteration

sa pāñcajanyo 'cyutavaktravāyunā bhṛśaṁ supūrṇodaraniḥsṛtadhvaniḥ | jagat sapātālaviyaddigīśvaraṁ prakampayāmāsa yugātyaye yathā ||

Translation

Then the conch Pāñcajanya—its belly filled by the breath from Acyuta’s mouth—released a tremendously fearsome roar. That sound shook the entire world, together with the nether regions, the sky, the directions, and the guardians of the quarters, as though the end of an age (pralaya) had arrived. In the war’s moral atmosphere, the blast functions as a proclamation of resolve and a divine assurance that righteousness is being actively upheld amid destruction.

Word by Word

सःhe/that (Pāñcajanya)

पाञ्चजन्यःPāñcajanya (conch)

अच्युत-वक्त्र-वायुनाby the air (breath) from Acyuta’s mouth

भृशम्exceedingly, greatly

सुपूर्ण-उदर-निःसृत-ध्वनिःhaving a sound issuing from a well-filled interior

जगत्the world

स-पाताल-वियत्-दिक्-ईश्वरम्together with the netherworld, sky, directions, and their lords

प्रकम्पयामासmade (it) tremble, shook

युग-अत्ययेat the end of an age (cosmic cycle)

यथाas, like

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pāñcajanya (conch)

Acyuta (Śrī Kṛṣṇa)

Pātāla

Viyat (sky)

Diśaḥ (directions)

Digīśvarāḥ / Dikpālāḥ (guardians of the quarters)

Jagat (the world)

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 uses cosmic-scale imagery to show how a righteous resolve, when backed by divine steadiness (Acyuta), becomes a force that dispels hesitation and announces moral certainty in the midst of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śrī Kṛṣṇa blows his conch Pāñcajanya; its thunderous sound reverberates so powerfully that it is described as shaking the sky, the netherworlds, and even the guardians of the directions—like a sign of cosmic upheaval.