Shloka 34
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 |
Санджая сказал: «О владыка людей, когда та битва развернулась — яростная и без удержу, — губя четырёхчастное войско и подобная древним войнам богов и асуров, многие воины, терзаемые страхом, стали звать родичей и товарищей; и всё же многие бойцы, даже будучи окликнуты любимыми, не повернули назад.»
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.