Shloka 32

ध्वजवर्णनम् | Dhvaja-varṇanam

Description of War Standards

Devanagari script

श्र: सदेवा: सगन्धर्वा: पिशाचोरगराक्षसा:

Transliteration

śrāḥ sadevās sagandharvāḥ piśācoragarākṣasāḥ

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—सदेवाः सगन्धर्वाः पिशाचोरगराक्षसाः।

Word by Word

• शूराः: heroes, valiant men
• शूराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सदेवाः: together with the gods
• सदेवाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-देव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सगन्धर्वाः: together with the Gandharvas
• सगन्धर्वाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-गन्धर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पिशाच: Piśācas (ghouls)
• पिशाच: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिशाच
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• उरग: serpents
• उरग: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उरग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राक्षसाः: Rākṣasas (demons)
• राक्षसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राक्षस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Devas
• Gandharvas
• Piśācas
• Uragas (serpents/Nāgas)
• Rākṣasas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that adharma-driven violence is not merely a human affair: it disturbs the wider moral and cosmic order. By invoking divine and uncanny beings together, the text stresses the ethical weight of the conflict and the far-reaching consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, describes the battlefield atmosphere as so intense that it seems to involve or affect beings from multiple realms—gods, celestial spirits, and fearsome non-human classes—amplifying the sense of dread and magnitude surrounding the fighting.