Shloka 6

Devanagari script

चक्रे वायु: पृष्ठत: पाण्डवानां धार्तराष्ट्रज्शवापदा व्याहरन्त । गजेन्द्राणां मदगन्धां श्व॒ तीव्रान्‌ न सेहिरे तव पुत्रस्य नागा:

Transliteration

cakre vāyuḥ pṛṣṭhataḥ pāṇḍavānāṃ dhārtarāṣṭrāś ca śvapadā vyāharan | gajendrāṇāṃ madagandhāṃś ca tīvrān na sehire tava putrasya nāgāḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「風はパーンダヴァ軍の背後から吹き、カウラヴァ側では野獣が不吉な声を上げた。さらに、汝の子の軍の戦象たちは、パーンダヴァ方の大象が放つ発情の強烈な匂いに耐えられなかった。」

Word by Word

चक्रेmade/caused

वायुःthe wind

पृष्ठतःfrom behind/at the back

पाण्डवानाम्of the Pāṇḍavas

धार्तराष्ट्राःthe Dhārtarāṣṭras (Kauravas)

श्वापदाःwild beasts/predators

व्याहरन्cried out/uttered

गजेन्द्राणाम्of the lordly elephants

मदगन्धान्musth-smells (odours of rut)

श्वःindeclinable (uncertain in this reading)

तीव्रान्strong/intense

नnot

सेहिरेendured/tolerated

तवyour

पुत्रस्यof (your) son

नागाःelephants

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍavas

Dhārtarāṣṭras (Kauravas)

Duryodhana (implied by 'tava putrasya')

wind (vāyu)

wild beasts (śvapadāḥ)

elephants (nāgāḥ, gajendrāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how nature and battlefield omens are read as indicators of moral and strategic momentum: favorable conditions align with the side perceived as more righteous, while fear and disorder appear among the opposing forces.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports signs on the battlefield: the wind supports the Pāṇḍavas from behind, ominous cries arise among the Kaurava side, and Duryodhana’s elephants are unsettled and unable to bear the intense must-scent of powerful elephants—suggesting disadvantage for the Kauravas.