Shloka 36

Droṇasya raudra-prayogaḥ

Droṇa’s intensified assault and the Pāṇḍava response

Devanagari script

गृध्रा: श्येना बका: कड्का वायसाश्न सहस्रश: । उपर्युपरि सेनां ते तदा पर्यपतन्‌ नूप

Transliteration

gṛdhrāḥ śyenā bakāḥ kaṅkā vāyasāś ca sahasraśaḥ | uparyupari senāṃ te tadā paryapatan nṛpa ||

Translation

गृध्राः श्येनाः बकाः कङ्काः वायसाश्च सहस्रशः। उपर्युपरि सेनां ते तदा पर्यपतन् नृप॥

Word by Word

• गृध्राः: vultures
• गृध्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृध्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• श्येनाः: hawks
• श्येनाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्येन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• बकाः: cranes/herons
• बकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कङ्काः: kites (a kind of bird)
• कङ्काः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कङ्क
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वायसाः: crows
• वायसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• सहस्रशः: by thousands; in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्रशस्

• उपरि: above; overhead
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरि

• उपरि: above; overhead
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरि

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

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• पर्यपतन्: flew around; hovered about
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• नृप: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• nṛpa (the king, Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• Kaurava army
• vultures
• hawks
• cranes
• herons/kaṅkas
• crows

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the epic’s ethical warning that war pursued without dharma invites ominous signs and inevitable ruin; nature itself appears to foreshadow the consequences of mass violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that large numbers of carrion-birds are circling above the Kaurava forces—an inauspicious battlefield omen suggesting imminent death and defeat.