Shloka 7

Devanagari script

असज्जन्त ततो वीरा वीरेष्वेव पृथक्‌ पृथक्‌ नागा नागै: समाजम्मुस्तुरगा हयसादिभि:,उस समय वीरगण विपक्षी वीरोंके साथ पृथक्‌-पृथक्‌ भिड़ गये। हाथी हाथियोंके और घुड़सवार घुड़सवारोंके साथ जूझने लगे

Transliteration

asajjanta tato vīrā vīreṣv eva pṛthak pṛthak | nāgā nāgaiḥ samāyattāḥ turagā haya-sādibhiḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。やがて勇士たちは迫り合い、各々が敵方の勇士と別々に組み合って戦った。象は象と角を突き合わせ、騎馬は騎馬と斬り結び、戦列は押し合う戦のただ中で「同じもの同士」が相対する形に整っていった。

Word by Word

असज्जन्तthey engaged/closed in (battle)

ततःthen, thereafter

वीराःheroes/warriors

वीरेषुamong/on the warriors

एवindeed, just

पृथक्separately

पृथक्each separately (repetition for emphasis)

नागाःelephants

नागैःwith/by elephants

समाजग्मुःthey came together/closed (in combat)

तुरगाःhorses/horsemen

हय-सादिभिःwith horsemen and the like

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

warriors (vīrāḥ)

war-elephants (nāgāḥ)

horses/cavalry (turagāḥ, haya)

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 highlights the regulated, class-to-class engagement typical of a dharma-oriented battlefield ideal: combatants pair off in comparable modes (hero with hero, elephant with elephant, cavalry with cavalry), suggesting an attempt—amid chaos—to preserve order and proportionality in violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battle intensifying as opposing champions meet individually, while the larger formations naturally align: elephant corps collide with elephant corps, and mounted troops clash with mounted troops.