Shloka 28

Devanagari script

वर्तमाने तथा घोरे संकुले सर्वतोदिशम्‌ । अविज्ञाता: सम युध्यन्ते विनिध्नन्त: परस्परम्‌,उस घोर घमासान युद्धके चालू होनेपर सम्पूर्ण योद्धा एक-दूसरेपर चोट करते हुए बिना जाने-पहचाने ही युद्ध करते थे

Transliteration

vartamāne tathā ghore saṅkule sarvatodiśam | avijñātāḥ sama yudhyante vinighnantaḥ parasparam ||

Translation

ສັນຊະຍະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ເມື່ອການຮົບອັນນ່າຢ້ານ ແລະວຸ່ນວາຍນັ້ນ ລຸກໂຮມໄປທຸກທິດ, ນັກຮົບທັງຫຼາຍ—ບໍ່ອາດຈະຈຳແນກກັນໄດ້—ກໍສູ້ຮົບຢ່າງມືດບອດ, ຟັນຟາດ ແລະຂ້າກັນເອງໃນຄວາມສັບສົນ»។

Word by Word

वर्तमानेwhen (it was) going on / in progress

तथाthus, in that manner

घोरेin the terrible (battle)

संकुलेin the confused/crowded (state)

सर्वतःon all sides

दिशम्direction/quarter

अविज्ञाताःunrecognized, unknown (to each other)

समम्equally, indiscriminately

युध्यन्तेthey fight

विनिध्नन्तःstriking down, smiting

परस्परम्each other, mutually

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

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 the ethical and psychological breakdown that accompanies extreme violence: when battle becomes all-pervading and chaotic, recognition, restraint, and discriminative judgment (viveka) fail, leading to indiscriminate mutual slaughter—an implicit warning about war’s dehumanizing momentum.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield at a moment of intense confusion: the fighting is so fierce and disorderly in every direction that combatants cannot identify friend or foe and therefore strike each other without recognition, resulting in mutual killing.