Shloka 51

Devanagari script

सिंहनादरवाश्नैव प्रादुरासन्‌ समागमे । उभयो: सेनयो राजन मृत्युं कृत्वा निवर्तनम्‌,नरेश्वर! दोनों सेनाओंमें मृत्युको ही युद्धसे निवृत्त होनेकी अवधि नियत करके संघर्ष छिड़ गया और वीरोंके सिंहनाद होने लगे

Transliteration

siṁhanāda-ravāś caiva prādurāsan samāgame | ubhayoḥ senayor rājan mṛtyuṁ kṛtvā nivartanam ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, in that great encounter, lion-like battle-cries and tumultuous roars burst forth. Both armies entered the clash having fixed only death as the limit of withdrawal—treating the battlefield as a place from which one turns back only after meeting one’s end.”

Word by Word

सिंहनादरवाःlion-roar-like cries (war-cries)

चand

एवindeed/just

प्रादुरासन्appeared/arose

समागमेin the encounter/assembly (battle-meeting)

उभयोःof both

सेनयोःof the two armies

राजन्O king

मृत्युम्death

कृत्वाhaving made/considering as

निवर्तनम्withdrawal/turning back (cessation)

नरेश्वरO lord of men (king)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

the two armies (Pāṇḍava and Kaurava forces)

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 underscores the extreme ethic of battlefield resolve: both sides treat death as the only permissible boundary for retreat. It highlights how kṣatriya ideals of valor can harden into a fatalistic commitment, raising an implicit ethical tension between duty, pride, and the human cost of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the armies have fully engaged. The field fills with thunderous roars and lion-like shouts as warriors surge into combat, determined not to withdraw except by dying.