Shloka 34
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
वर्तमाने तदा युद्धे निर्मय्यादे विशाम्पते । चतुरड्डक्षये घोरे पूर्वदेवासुरोपमे,प्रजानाथ! परंतप! प्राचीन देवासुर-संग्रामके समान चतुरंगिणी सेनाका विनाश करनेवाला वह मर्यादाशून्य घोर युद्ध जब चलने लगा; तब भयसे पीड़ित हुए कितने ही सैनिक अपने बन्धु-बान्धवोंको पुकारने लगे और बहुत-से योद्धा प्रियजनोंके पुकारनेपर भी पीछे नहीं लौटते थे
sañjaya uvāca | vartamāne tadā yuddhe nirmaryāde viśāmpate | caturaṅgakṣaye ghore pūrvadevāsuropame |
Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai tuan rakyat jelata, ketika pertempuran itu berlangsung—ganas dan tanpa batas—membinasakan bala tentera empat angkatan dan menyerupai perang purba antara para dewa dan asura, ramai prajurit yang diseksa ketakutan mula memanggil sanak saudara dan sahabat; namun ramai juga pejuang, walau diseru oleh orang tersayang, tidak berpaling ke belakang.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, once it becomes nirmaryāda—unbounded by restraint—overwhelms ordinary human ties: fear drives some to cry out for family, while others, bound by martial resolve or fatal momentum, refuse to retreat even at loved ones’ calls. It implicitly contrasts personal attachment with the harsh compulsions of kṣatriya warfare and the ethical collapse that accompanies total battle.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battle’s escalation into a dreadful, limit-transgressing slaughter that devastates the fourfold armies, likened to primordial deva–asura conflicts. Amid the chaos, many soldiers panic and call for relatives, yet many combatants continue fighting without turning back.