Shloka 1

Devanagari script

[दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका इं श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ३० ६ “लोक हैं।] नल रत (0) आज अत 3 पज्चचत्वारिशो< ध्याय: उभय पक्षके सैनिकोंका उन्ड-युद्ध संजय उवाच पूर्वाह्नि तस्य रौद्रस्य युद्धमह्नो विशाम्पते । प्रावर्तत महाघोरें राज्ञां देहावकर्तनम्‌,संजय कहते हैं--प्रजानाथ! उस भयंकर दिनके प्रथम भागमें महाभयानक युद्ध होने लगा, जो राजाओंके शरीरका उच्छेद करनेवाला था

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | pūrvāhṇi tasya raudrasya yuddham ahno viśāmpate | prāvartata mahāghoraṃ rājñāṃ dehāvakartanam ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「民の主よ、あの恐るべき日の午前、まことに凄惨なる戦が始まった——王たちの身を断ち、倒れ伏させる戦であった。」

Word by Word

संजयSanjaya

उवाचsaid

पूर्वाह्णिin the forenoon

तस्यof that

रौद्रस्यterrible, fierce

युद्धाह्नःof the day of battle

विशाम्पतेO lord of the people (king)

प्रावर्ततbegan, commenced

महाघोरेin the very dreadful (battle)

राज्ञाम्of kings

देहावकर्तनम्the cutting down of bodies

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by the vocative viśāmpate)

kings (rājānaḥ, generic combatants)

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 frames war as intrinsically dreadful and body-destroying, reminding the listener that even kings—symbols of order and protection—are reduced to mortal bodies in violence. It implicitly invites reflection on the ethical cost of conflict and the fragility of worldly power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, in the morning portion of a fearsome day on the battlefield, an extremely terrible fight commenced—one characterized by the cutting down of kings.