Shloka 32

Devanagari script

दृष्टवा तु पाण्डवीं सेना दह्यमानां महाहवे

Transliteration

dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavīṁ senāṁ dahyamānāṁ mahāhave

Translation

दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवीं सेनां महाहवे दह्यमानाम्, सञ्जयो विनाशस्यातिभीषणं दृश्यं न्यवेदयत्—युद्धं हि प्रवृत्तं सत् धर्मपक्षमपि दहति, धैर्यं च धर्मं च कलुषे काले परीक्षते।

Word by Word

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• पाण्डवीं: Pandava (belonging to the Pandavas)
• पाण्डवीं: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाण्डवी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सेनाम्: army
• सेनाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेना
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• दह्यमानाम्: being burned
• दह्यमानाम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: दह्
• Form: शानच् (present passive participle), कर्मणि, Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• महाहवे: in the great battle
• महाहवे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाहव
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍavas
• Pāṇḍava army (senā)
• mahāhava (the great battle of Kurukṣetra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the indiscriminate nature of warfare: even those aligned with dharma can be engulfed by devastation. It invites reflection on the ethical cost of conflict and the fragility of human life amid kṣatriya violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield situation: the Pāṇḍava forces are seen as 'burning'—i.e., being fiercely struck down or consumed by destructive weapons/assault—in the midst of the great Kurukṣetra war.