Shloka 133

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

निशाचराणां सत्त्वानां रात्रि: सा हर्षवर्धिनी । आसीजक्नरगजाश्चानां रौद्री क्षयकरी भूशम्‌,वह भयानक रात्रि निशाचर प्राणियोंका हर्ष बढ़ानेवाली थी और मनुष्यों, घोड़ों तथा हाथियोंके लिये अत्यन्त विनाशकारिणी सिद्ध हुई

Transliteration

niśācarāṇāṃ sattvānāṃ rātriḥ sā harṣavardhinī | āsīj jananara-gajāśvānāṃ raudrī kṣayakarī bhṛśam ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: That night, which delighted the nocturnal beings, became a night of terror—fierce and utterly destructive—for men, horses, and elephants. In the moral shadow of war, the same darkness that empowers one kind of life becomes the instrument of ruin for another.

Word by Word

निशाचराणाम्of the night-roamers

सत्त्वानाम्of beings/creatures

रात्रिःnight

साthat (she/it)

हर्षवर्धिनीincreasing joy

आसीत्was

नरof men

गजof elephants

अश्वानाम्of horses

चand

आनाम्unresolved fragment (likely textual corruption)

रौद्रीterrible/fierce

क्षयकरीcausing destruction

भूशम्greatly/exceedingly

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

night (rātri)

niśācarāḥ (night-roamers)

men (jana/nara)

horses (aśva)

elephants (gaja)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes