Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 5

Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira

Book 9, Chapter 11

Devanagari script

प्राणादाने महाघोरे वर्तमाने दुरोदरे । संग्रामे घोररूपे तु यमराष्ट्रविवर्धने

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

prāṇādāne mahāghore vartamāne durādare |

saṅgrāme ghorarūpe tu yamarāṣṭravivardhane ||

Translation

ସଞ୍ଜୟ କହିଲେ—ମହାରାଜ! ପ୍ରାଣକୁ ପଣ କରାଯାଇଥିବା ସେଇ ମହାଘୋର, ସହିବାକୁ କଠିନ, ଯମରାଜ୍ୟକୁ ବଢ଼ାଇଦେଉଥିବା ଭୟଙ୍କର ସଂଗ୍ରାମ ଚାଲୁଥିବାବେଳେ, ପରସ୍ପର ବଧର ଇଚ୍ଛାରେ ଯୋଧାମାନେ ଏକାପରେ ଏକା ଭିତରକୁ ଗାହିଗଲେ।

Word by Word

• प्राणादाने: in the taking away of life (life-taking)
• प्राणादाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राण-आदान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• महाघोरे: very dreadful
• महाघोरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाघोर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वर्तमाने: while occurring/going on
• वर्तमाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (वर्तते)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular, शतृ (present active participle)

• दुरोदरे: hard to escape/ill-fated (lit. difficult-belly/exit)
• दुरोदरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुरोदर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• संग्रामे: in battle
• संग्रामे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संग्राम
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• घोररूपे: of dreadful form
• घोररूपे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोररूप
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• यमराष्ट्रविवर्धने: increasing Yama's realm (i.e., causing many deaths)
• यमराष्ट्रविवर्धने: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यम-राष्ट्र-विवर्धन
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address 'O King')
• Yama

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames war as an extreme moral and existential crisis: battle is an ‘exchange of lives’ that inevitably enlarges Death’s domain. It underscores the ethical gravity of violence and the tragic cost that accompanies kṣatriya warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that the fighting has intensified into a terrifying, hard-to-endure slaughter—combatants pressing in with lethal intent, and the battlefield becoming a scene that metaphorically ‘increases Yama’s kingdom’ through mounting deaths.