Shloka 25

सैन्यसंनिवेशः (Sainyasaṃniveśaḥ) — Deployment, Omens, and Yuddha-Dharma Conventions

Devanagari script

शून्या5डसीत्‌ पृथिवी सर्वा वृद्धबालावशेषिता । निरश्वपुरुषेवासीदू्‌ रथकुञज्जरवर्जिता

Transliteration

śūnyā āsīt pṛthivī sarvā vṛddha-bālāvaśeṣitā | niraśva-puruṣevāsīd ratha-kuñjaravarjitā ||

Translation

முழு பூமியும் வெறிச்சோடியதுபோல் இருந்தது; முதியோரும் குழந்தைகளும் மட்டுமே மீதமிருந்தனர். அது குதிரைகளும் மனிதர்களும் இல்லாத, ரதங்களும் யானைகளும் அற்ற, கைவிடப்பட்ட குடியிருப்பைப் போலத் தோன்றியது.

Word by Word

शून्याempty, void

आसीत्was

पृथिवीthe earth

सर्वाentire, all

वृद्धबालावशेषिताleft with only old men and children

निरश्वपुरुषाdevoid of horses and men

इवas if, like

आसीत्was

रथकुञ्जरवर्जिताdevoid of chariots and elephants

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

pṛthivī (the earth/land)

vṛddha (the aged)

bāla (children)

aśva (horses)

puruṣa (men)

ratha (chariots)

kuñjara (elephants)

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 social cost of war: when armies mobilize, ordinary life is hollowed out, leaving the vulnerable—children and the elderly—behind. It implicitly warns that warfare empties communities and disrupts the moral and social fabric.

What is happening in the narrative?

As the Kurukṣetra war is about to unfold, the narrator describes the land as deserted because fighting men, horses, chariots, and elephants have moved out to the battlefield, making settlements appear empty and abandoned.