Shloka 4
शैनेयचरितम्
The Exploits of Śaineya/Sātyaki amid Encirclement
राजन् कदाचित्नास्माभिद्दष्ट तादूडू न च श्रुतम् । यादृड मध्यगते सूर्य युद्धमासीद् विशाम्पते,राजन! प्रजानाथ! वहाँ मध्याह्नकालमें जैसा वह युद्ध हुआ था, वैसा न तो मैंने कभी देखा था और न सुना ही था
rājan kadācin nāsmābhir dṛṣṭaṃ tādṛk na ca śrutam | yādṛg madhyagate sūrye yuddham āsīd viśāmpate ||
Sañjaya said: O King, never before have we seen or even heard of a battle like the one that took place when the sun stood at midday. O lord of the people, such a conflict—fierce and unprecedented—unfolded at the very height of the day, as though the world’s order itself were being tested by the fury of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the extraordinary and unsettling intensity of war: when violence exceeds what has been seen or heard, it signals a breakdown of normal moral and social limits. Sañjaya’s astonishment implicitly warns that unchecked conflict can overwhelm customary dharma and human expectation.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battle occurring around midday was unlike anything he had ever witnessed or heard of. It sets the tone for an especially fierce phase of fighting in the Droṇa Parva.