Shloka 42
Śiva’s Battlefield Manifestation and Vyāsa’s Śatarudrīya Exposition (शिवप्रादुर्भावः शतरुद्रीयव्याख्यानम्)
Devanagari script
तद् बल॑ भरतश्रेष्ठ वध्यमानं तदा निशि
Transliteration
tad balaṁ bharataśreṣṭha vadhyamānaṁ tadā niśi
Translation
ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಓ ಭರತಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ, ಆ ಸೇನೆ ಆ ವೇಳೆ ರಾತ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಧೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಾ, ಸಮರದಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಷೀಣಿಸಿ ಭೀಕರ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗೆ ತಲುಪಿತು।
Word by Word
तत्that
तत्:
Karma
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
FormNeuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular
बलम्army; force
बलम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootबल
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas
भरतश्रेष्ठ:
TypeNoun (vocative epithet)
Rootभरत-श्रेष्ठ
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular
वध्यमानम्being slain; being killed
वध्यमानम्:
Karma
TypeAdjective/Participle
Rootवध्यमान (√वध्)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
तदाthen
तदा:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतदा
निशिat night
निशि:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootनिशा
FormFeminine, Locative, Singular
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaD
Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by the address bharataśreṣṭha)B
bala (the army/force; unspecified here)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
The verse underscores the moral strain of warfare when violence continues under cover of night: even in a kṣatriya conflict governed by norms, chaos and darkness can blur restraint, raising questions of dharma and accountability.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a certain army/force is being slaughtered at night, setting a grim scene of nocturnal fighting and the resulting devastation.