Shloka 18

Devanagari script

सिन्धुराजवधेनेमे घटोत्कचवधेन ते । अमर्षिता: सुसंक्रुद्धा रणं चक्र: कथं निशि,सिंधुराज जयद्रथके वधसे अमर्षमें भरे हुए कौरवों तथा घटोत्कचके मारे जानेसे अत्यन्त कुपित हुए पाण्डवोंने रात्रिमें किस प्रकार युद्ध किया?

Transliteration

dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |

sindhurājavadhene me ghaṭotkacavadhena te |

amarṣitāḥ susaṁkruddhā raṇaṁ cakruḥ kathaṁ niśi ||

Translation

ドリタラーシュトラは言った。「シンドゥ王（ジャヤドラタ）が討たれ、さらにガトートカチャが倒されたのち、怨みを胸に燃やし、激しい怒りに駆られたパーンダヴァたちは、夜の戦いをいかにして遂行したのか。」

Word by Word

सिन्धुराजवधेनby the killing of the Sindhu-king (Jayadratha)

इमेthese (men)

घटोत्कचवधेनby the killing of Ghaṭotkaca

तेthey

अमर्षिताःindignant, unable to bear (it)

सुसंक्रुद्धाःhighly enraged

रणम्battle

चक्रुःthey did/made

कथम्how

निशिat night

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Sindhurāja (Jayadratha)

Ghaṭotkaca

Pāṇḍavas

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 grief and outrage can intensify conflict, pushing warriors beyond ordinary limits (even into night-fighting). It frames the ethical tension in war: emotions like amarṣa (indignant resentment) and krodha (anger) can drive action, yet they also deepen the cycle of retaliation that dharma struggles to restrain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya to explain how the Pāṇḍavas continued fighting at night after two major deaths: Jayadratha (the Sindhu king) and Ghaṭotkaca. The question points to the extraordinary, chaotic conditions of the war’s later phase, when rage and urgency overrode normal battlefield conventions.