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
sañjaya uvāca | vartamāne tadā yuddhe nirmaryāde viśāmpate | caturaṅgakṣaye ghore pūrvadevāsuropame |
Sañjaya disse: “Ó senhor dos povos, quando aquela batalha estava em curso—feroz e sem freio—trazendo ruína ao exército de quatro corpos e assemelhando-se às antigas guerras entre deuses e asuras, muitos guerreiros, atormentados pelo medo, começaram a chamar por seus parentes e companheiros; contudo, muitos combatentes, mesmo quando chamados por seus entes queridos, não voltaram atrás.”
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.