Shloka 15

Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

प्रगृहीतैः सुसंरब्धा द्रवमाणास्ततस्ततः । व्यदृश्यन्त महाराज परस्परजिघांसव:

Transliteration

pragṛhītaiḥ susaṃrabdhā dravamāṇās tataḥ tataḥ | vyadṛśyanta mahārāja parasparajighāṃsavaḥ ||

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—മഹാരാജാ, പിടിക്കപ്പെട്ടും കഠിനമായി അമർത്തപ്പെട്ടും അവർ ഇവിടെ അവിടെ ചിതറി ഓടുന്നതായി കണ്ടു—പരസ്പരം വധിക്കാനുള്ള ആകാംക്ഷയോടെ.

Word by Word

प्रगृहीतैःwith seized/held (weapons)

सुसंरब्धाःhighly enraged

द्रवमाणाःrunning about / rushing

ततःfrom there / thence

ततःfrom there (here and there)

व्यदृश्यन्तwere seen / appeared

महाराजO great king

परस्पर-जिघांसवःdesiring to kill one another

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

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, once seized by anger and the urge to destroy, warriors lose steadiness and scatter in panic, yet remain driven by mutual hatred. It implicitly warns that uncontrolled rage and the fixation on killing degrade discernment and intensify the moral danger of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that combatants, tightly engaged and highly agitated, are seen running off in different directions amid the battle, each side bent on slaying the other.