Shloka 28

Devanagari script

स संग्रामो महाराज घोररूपो5भवन्महान्‌ । कुरूणां पाण्डवानां च यमराष्ट्रविवर्धन:,महाराज! कौरवों और पाण्डवोंका वह घोर महा-संग्राम यमलोककी वृद्धि करनेवाला था

Transliteration

sa saṅgrāmo mahārāja ghorarūpo 'bhavan mahān | kurūṇāṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca yamarāṣṭravivardhanaḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「大王よ、クルとパーンダヴァの間に起こったその大戦は、恐るべき相を呈していた。多くを死へと送り、ヤマの国（冥府）を増し広げる戦であった。」

Word by Word

सःthat (he/it)

संग्रामःbattle

महाराजO great king

घोररूपःof terrible form

अभवत्became/was

महान्great

कुरूणाम्of the Kurus

पाण्डवानाम्of the Pandavas

चand

यमराष्ट्रविवर्धनःincreasing Yama's realm (the world of the dead)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Mahārāja (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

Kurus (Kauravas)

Pāṇḍavas

Yama

Yamarāṣṭra (realm of Yama)

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 underscores the moral gravity of war: even when framed as a kṣatriya conflict, its immediate fruit is death on a massive scale—symbolized as the ‘increase of Yama’s realm.’ It invites reflection on the human cost that accompanies ambition, anger, and contested claims to power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battle between the Kauravas (Kurus) and the Pāṇḍavas has become a vast and terrifying confrontation, marked by heavy slaughter—so much so that it is described as enlarging the domain of Yama, the lord of death.