Shloka 28

Devanagari script

दहामाना महानागा: पेतुरुर्व्या समनन्‍्ततः । नदन्तो भैरवान्‌ नादाज्जलदोपमनि:स्वनान्‌,विशालकाय गजराज दग्ध हो-होकर मेघकी गर्जनाके समान भयंकर चीत्कार करते हुए सब ओर धराशायी होने लगे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | dahāmānā mahānāgāḥ petur urvyā samantataḥ | nadanto bhairavān nādān jaladopama-niḥsvanān |

Translation

ದಹ್ಯವಾಗುತ್ತಿದ ಮಹಾನಾಗಗಳು ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆಯೂ ಭೂಮಿಗೆ ಕುಸಿದುಬಿದ್ದವು; ಮೋಡಗುಡುಗಿನಂತೆ ಭಯಾನಕ ಧ್ವನಿಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊರಡಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಗರ್ಜಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು।

Word by Word

दहामानाःbeing burnt / burning

महानागाःgreat elephants

पेतुःfell

उर्व्याम्on the earth

समन्ततःon all sides

नदन्तःroaring / bellowing

भैरवान्terrifying

नादान्cries / sounds

जलदोपम-निःस्वनान्sounds comparable to thunderclouds

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

elephants (mahānāgāḥ)

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 catastrophic cost of war: even the mightiest beings (war-elephants) are reduced to suffering and death. It implicitly warns that power and grandeur are impermanent, and that violence—though pursued under claims of duty—inevitably produces widespread anguish.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield scene where great elephants, set ablaze (likely by fiery weapons or burning missiles), collapse in all directions while emitting terrifying, thundercloud-like roars.