Shloka 52

Devanagari script

वादयामास संहृष्टो नानावाद्यानि सर्वश: । राजेन्द्र! उस समय दुर्योधनको बड़ी प्रसन्नता हुई। वह हर्षमें भरकर सब ओर नाना प्रकारके बाजे बजवाने लगा ।। पञ्चालापि महेष्वासा भग्नास्तत्र नरोत्तमा:

Transliteration

vādayāmāsa saṁhṛṣṭo nānāvādyāni sarvaśaḥ | rājendra! tadā duryodhanasya mahān harṣaḥ samabhavat | sa harṣeṇa paripūrṇaḥ sarvato nānāvidhāni vādyāni vādayāmāsa || pañcālā api maheṣvāsā bhagnās tatra narottamāḥ ||

Translation

वादयामास संहृष्टो नानावाद्यानि सर्वशः। राजेन्द्र तदा दुर्योधनः परमं हर्षमवाप्य सर्वतो नानावाद्यानि वादयामास। पाञ्चालाश्च महेष्वासा भग्नास्तत्र नरोत्तमाः।

Word by Word

वादयामासcaused to be played / had played

संहृष्टःdelighted, overjoyed

नानाvarious, many kinds of

वाद्यानिmusical instruments

सर्वशःon all sides / everywhere / in every way

पञ्चालाःthe Panchalas

अपिalso, even

महेष्वासाःgreat bowmen (lit. those having great bows)

भग्नाःbroken, routed, defeated

तत्रthere

नर-उत्तमाःbest of men, eminent warriors

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by rājendra)

Duryodhana

Pāñcālas

vādyāni (musical instruments)

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 danger of exultation in victory: celebration can arise immediately from battlefield success, yet it may ignore the human cost and foster pride (mada), which the epic repeatedly portrays as a cause of further downfall.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana, pleased by the turn of battle, orders instruments to be played everywhere in celebration, while the Pāñcāla great archers are described as routed/defeated at that spot.