Shloka 31

Devanagari script

जैसे मांसके टुकड़ेके लोभसे विचरते हुए बाजका बड़े वेगसे आक्रमण होता है, उसी प्रकार रणभूमिमें द्रोणाचार्य और धृष्टद्युम्नके परस्पर वेगपूर्वक आक्रमण होते थे

Transliteration

yathā māṃsa-khaṇḍa-lobhenā vicaran bājo mahā-vegenābhyākrāmati, tathā raṇa-bhūmau droṇācārya-dhṛṣṭadyumnayoḥ parasparaṃ vega-pūrvakam abhyākramaṇe bhavataḥ sma

Translation

మాంసఖండముపై లోభముతో సంచరించు శ్యేనుడు మహావేగముతో దూకునట్లు, అలాగే రణభూమిలో ద్రోణాచార్యుడు మరియు ధృష్టద్యుమ్నుడు పరస్పరం మహావేగముతో పునఃపునః దాడి చేసుకొనుచుండిరి.

Word by Word

यथाjust as

मांसof meat

टुकडस्यof a piece

लोभात्from/owing to greed

विचरन्moving about

बाजस्यof the hawk

महावेगेनwith great speed

आक्रमणम्attack

भवतिoccurs/is

तथाso/in the same way

रणभूमौon the battlefield

द्रोणाचार्यस्यof Dronacharya

धृष्टद्युम्नस्यof Dhrishtadyumna

परस्परम्mutually/against each other

वेगपूर्वकम्with force/speed

आक्रमणानिattacks

आसन्were

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Droṇācārya (Droṇa)

Dhṛṣṭadyumna

raṇa-bhūmi (battlefield)

bāja (hawk)

māṃsa-khaṇḍa (piece of flesh)

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 uses the hawk’s greed-driven swoop as a moral image: intense desire and fixed purpose can propel beings into swift, consuming action. In the war context, it highlights how momentum, rivalry, and intent can override restraint, drawing even eminent figures into relentless violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the duel-like engagement between Droṇācārya and Dhṛṣṭadyumna on the battlefield: both repeatedly charge at each other with great speed and force, likened to a hawk’s sudden attack for meat.