Shloka 3

Devanagari script

सम्ममर्द च तत्‌ सैन्यं पिता देवव्रतस्तव । धान्यानामिव लूनानां प्रकरं गोगणा इव,राजन! जैसे बैलोंके समुदाय कटे हुए धानके बोझोंका मर्दन करते हैं, उसी प्रकार आपके ताऊ देवव्रतने उस सेनाको रौंद डाला

Transliteration

saṃmamarda ca tat sainyaṃ pitā devavratas tava | dhānyānām iva lūnānāṃ prakaraṃ gogāṇā iva, rājan |

Translation

ข้าแต่ราชัน พ่ออาของพระองค์ เทววรตะ ได้บดขยี้กองทัพนั้น—ดุจฝูงโคย่ำเหยียบกองข้าวที่เกี่ยวแล้วให้แหลกและแน่นลง

Word by Word

सम्ममर्दcrushed, trampled

चand

तत्that

सैन्यम्army

पिताfather/elder (here: your elder, Bhishma)

देवव्रतःDevavrata (Bhishma)

तवof you/your

धान्यानाम्of grains/paddy

इवlike, as

लूनानाम्of cut/harvested (ones)

प्रकरम्heap, pile, stack

गोगणाःherds of cattle/oxen

इवlike, as

राजन्O king

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Devavrata (Bhīṣma)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'rājan' and 'tava')

army (sainya)

oxen/cattle herd (gogāṇa)

heaps of harvested grain (dhānya-prakara)

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 terrifying effectiveness of martial power in war and, by contrast, the fragility of massed troops before an exceptional commander. Ethically, it points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: kṣatriya-duty demands fighting, yet the consequences are crushing and dehumanizing, like grain pressed under hooves.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma (Devavrata), the king’s elder kinsman, has routed and trampled the opposing forces. The comparison to oxen trampling heaps of harvested grain conveys the scale and ease with which Bhīṣma breaks the enemy formation.