Shloka 30

Devanagari script

जातमात्रेण वीरेण येनोच्चै:श्रवसा यथा,अश्वत्थामेति सोअ्द्यैष शूरो नदति पाण्डव | पाण्डुनन्दन! जिस वीरने जन्म लेते ही उच्चै:श्रवा अश्वके समान हिनहिनाकर पृथ्वी तथा तीनों लोकोंको कम्पित कर दिया था और उस शब्दको सुनकर किसी अदृश्य प्राणीने उस समय उसका नाम “अश्व॒त्थामा” रख दिया था, यह वही शूरवीर अश्व॒त्थामा सिंहनाद कर रहा है

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca | jātamātreṇa vīreṇa yenoccaiḥśravasā yathā, aśvatthāmeti so 'dya eṣa śūro nadati pāṇḍava |

Translation

जातमात्रेण वीरेण येनोच्चैःश्रवसा यथा । हेषितं कम्पिता भूमिस्त्रयो लोकाश्च सर्वशः ॥ अश्वत्थामेति तस्यैव नामादृश्येन भूतिना । तच्छब्दश्रवणाद् दत्तं स एष नदति पाण्डव ॥

Word by Word

जातमात्रेणby (his being) just-born state / immediately upon birth

वीरेणby the hero

येनby whom

उच्चैःश्रवसाby/like Uccaiḥśravas (the divine horse)

यथाas, just as

अश्वत्थामाAśvatthāmā

इतिthus (quotative)

सःhe

अद्यtoday, now

एषःthis (one)

शूरःhero, brave man

नदतिroars, bellows, resounds

पाण्डवO Pāṇḍava

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Aśvatthāmā

Uccaiḥśravas

Pāṇḍava (son of Pāṇḍu)

Earth (Pṛthivī)

Three worlds (trailokya)

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 how extraordinary power and reputation can be signaled from birth, yet such prowess is ethically neutral: it can serve dharma or intensify destruction. In the war context, Arjuna’s recognition of Aśvatthāmā’s ominous, world-shaking cry underscores the moral weight of how a warrior’s strength is directed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna identifies the roaring warrior as Aśvatthāmā and recalls the legend of his naming: at birth he neighed like Uccaiḥśravas, shaking earth and the three worlds, and an unseen being named him accordingly. The recollection frames Aśvatthāmā’s present battle-cry as a formidable and portentous presence on the battlefield.