Shloka 7

Devanagari script

तेषां ज्यातलनिर्घोषो रथनेमिस्वनश्न ह । मेघानामिव घ॒र्मान्ति बभूव तुमुलो निशि,उस रात्रिके समय उनकी प्रत्यंचाकी टंकार तथा रथके पहियोंकी घर्घराहटका शब्द वर्षाकालके मेघोंकी गर्जनाके समान भयंकर जान पड़ता था

Transliteration

teṣāṁ jyātalanirghoṣo rathanemisvanaś ca ha | meghānām iva gharmānte babhūva tumulo niśi ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。その夜、弓弦の轟きと戦車の車輪のうなりは渦巻く騒然となって立ちのぼり、暑季の終わりに鳴り渡る雨雲の雷鳴のごとく恐ろしかった。

Word by Word

तेषाम्of them

ज्यातलनिर्घोषःthe twang/clang of bowstrings

रथनेमिस्वनःthe sound of chariot-wheels (rims)

चand

हindeed (emphatic particle)

मेघानाम्of clouds

इवlike, as

घर्मान्तेat the end of summer (in the season’s close)

बभूवbecame, was

तुमुलःtumultuous, dreadful

निशिat night

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

bowstrings (jyā)

chariots (ratha)

chariot wheels/rims (nemi)

clouds (megha)

night (niśā)

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 how war’s instruments—bows and chariots—create an atmosphere of dread and inevitability; the simile of monsoon thunder suggests an overpowering force that sweeps up all parties, reminding the listener of the grave ethical weight and human cost carried by martial action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that during the night the battlefield resounded with the twang of bowstrings and the rumbling of chariot wheels, a deafening tumult compared to thunderclouds gathering at the end of summer.