Shloka 50

Devanagari script

ततस्त्रासो महानासीत्‌ कुरुपाण्डवसेनयो: । सर्वेषां चैव भूतानामुद्यते<स्त्रे महात्मना,महामना द्रोणके द्वारा ब्रह्मास्त्रके उठाये जाते ही कौरवों और पाण्डवोंकी सेनाओंपर तथा समस्त प्राणियोंमें बड़ा भारी आतंक छा गया

Transliteration

tatas trāso mahān āsīt kuru-pāṇḍava-senayoḥ | sarveṣāṃ caiva bhūtānām udyate ’stre mahātmanā ||

Translation

ततस्त्रासो महानासीৎ कुरुपाण्डवसेनयोः । सर्वेषां चैव भूतानामुद्यतेऽस्त्रे महात्मना ॥

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

त्रासःterror, panic

महान्great

आसीत्was, arose

कुरु-पाण्डव-सेनयोःof the Kuru and Pandava armies

सर्वेषाम्of all

चand

एवindeed, just

भूतानाम्of beings, creatures

उद्यतेwhen (it) was being raised/brandished

अस्त्रेin/at the weapon (being raised)

महात्मनाby the great-souled (one)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kuru army

Pāṇḍava army

all beings (bhūtāni)

astra (weapon/missile)

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 moral weight of wielding overwhelming weapon-power: when a great missile is raised, fear spreads beyond the battlefield to all beings, implying that the warrior’s choices in war carry universal consequences and demand restraint aligned with dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that as a mighty warrior lifts his weapon to employ it, both the Kuru and Pāṇḍava forces—and even all creatures—are seized by intense terror, signaling the imminent use of a formidable astra and the escalation of the conflict.