Shloka 30

Devanagari script

अथान्यैर्बहुभिर्भल्लै: शिरांस्पेषामपातयत्‌ । रोषसंरक्तनेत्राणि संदष्टौष्ठानि भूतले

Transliteration

athānyair bahubhir bhallaiḥ śirāṃs teṣām apātayat | roṣa-saṃrakta-netrāṇi saṃdaṣṭauṣṭhāni bhūtale ||

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—பின்னர் பல கூர்மையான பல்ல அம்புகளால் அவர்களின் தலைகளை வெட்டி வீழ்த்தினான்; கோபத்தால் சிவந்த கண்களும், பற்களால் இறுக்கப்பட்ட உதடுகளும் உடைய அவை நிலத்தில் விழுந்தன.

Word by Word

अथthen

अन्यैःwith other (ones)

बहुभिःwith many

भल्लैःwith arrows (bhalla-shafts)

शिरांसिheads

एषाम्of these (men)

अपातयत्caused to fall; felled

रोष-संरक्त-नेत्राणिhaving eyes reddened with anger

संदष्ट-ओष्ठानिwith lips clenched/bitten

भूतलेon the ground

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

भ

भल्ल (bhalla arrows)

श

शिरस् (heads)

भ

भूतल (the ground/earth)

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 dehumanizing force of uncontrolled wrath in warfare: rage manifests physically (reddened eyes, clenched lips) and culminates in brutal outcomes. It implicitly warns that anger, once dominant, eclipses discernment and compassion even amid duty-bound combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior (contextually, the combatant being narrated) using many bhalla-arrows to cut down opponents so that their heads fall to the earth, depicted with vivid signs of fury—red eyes and tightly clenched lips.