Shloka 526

Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)

Devanagari script

नानाजात्या हतास्तत्र नानादेशसमागता: । वहाँ नाना देशोंसे आये हुए, नाना जातिके, नाना शस्त्र धारण किये और नाना प्रकारके कुण्डलधारी योद्धा मारे गये थे

Transliteration

nānājātyā hatās tatra nānādeśasamāgatāḥ |

Translation

Санджая сказал: Там были убиты воины многих народов, пришедшие из разных земель. Картина подчёркивает огромную и безразборную цену войны: люди разного происхождения и самобытности, втянутые в один конфликт, встречают на поле брани один и тот же конец.

Word by Word

नानाvarious, many kinds of

जात्याby caste/tribe (by kind)

हताःslain

तत्रthere

नानाvarious

देशcountries/regions

समागताःassembled, come together

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

warriors (various peoples/regions)

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 universality of suffering in war: distinctions of land and community collapse before death, inviting reflection on the ethical weight of violence and the tragic cost borne by countless lives.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield aftermath: fighters who had gathered from many regions and belonged to many groups have been killed there, emphasizing the scale and diversity of the fallen.