Shloka 35

अध्याय ४ — दुर्योधनस्य असंधि-निश्चयः

Duryodhana’s Refusal of Reconciliation

Devanagari script

नष्टचन्द्रा यथा रात्रि: सेनेयं हतनायका । नागभग्नद्रुमा शुष्का नदीवाकुलतां गता

Transliteration

naṣṭacandrā yathā rātriḥ seneyaṃ hatanāyakā | nāgabhagnadrumā śuṣkā nadīvākulatāṃ gatā ||

Translation

Санджая сказал: «Как ночь кажется темной, когда исчезает луна, так и наше войско — сраженное гибелью военачальника — лишилось блеска и уверенности. Подобно иссохшей реке, чьи прибрежные деревья сломаны слонами, оно впало в смятение и беспорядок.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'naṣṭa-candrā', 'definition': 'with the moon lost/absent

• moonless'}, {'term': 'yathā', 'definition': 'just as

• like'}, {'term': 'rātriḥ', 'definition': 'night'}, {'term': 'senā (sene yam)', 'definition': 'army

• here ‘this army’'}, {'term': 'hata-nāyakā', 'definition': 'whose leader/commander has been slain'}, {'term': 'nāga', 'definition': 'elephant'}, {'term': 'bhagna', 'definition': 'broken

• shattered'}, {'term': 'drumāḥ', 'definition': 'trees'}, {'term': 'śuṣkā', 'definition': 'dried up

• parched'}, {'term': 'nadī', 'definition': 'river'}, {'term': 'ākulatā', 'definition': 'confusion

• turmoil'}, {'term': 'gatā', 'definition': 'gone to

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• the Kaurava army (senā)
• moon (candra)
• night (rātri)
• elephants (nāga)
• river (nadī)
• trees (druma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the fall of a leader can extinguish collective confidence: without guiding authority and cohesion, even a powerful force becomes disoriented. Ethically, it underscores the fragility of worldly strength and the dependence of order on responsible leadership.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava host has become shaken and chaotic after its commander has been killed. He uses two similes—moonless night and a dried riverbank ravaged by elephants—to convey loss of brilliance and the spread of turmoil through the ranks.