Shloka 236

Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)

Devanagari script

यथा सिंहं समासाद्य मृगा: प्राणपरायणा: । जैसे सिंहका सामना पड़ जानेपर मृग भयभीत हो अपने प्राण बचानेके लिये भागते हैं, उसी प्रकार मारे जाते हुए घोड़े भयसे व्याकुल हो इधर-उधर भाग रहे थे

Transliteration

yathā siṁhaṁ samāsādya mṛgāḥ prāṇaparāyaṇāḥ |

Translation

ดุจดังกวางเมื่อประจันหน้าสิงห์ ย่อมมุ่งรักษาชีวิตด้วยความหวาดผวาแล้วแตกหนีไป ฉันใด ม้าทั้งหลายที่ถูกฟันถูกแทงจนล้มลงก็ฉันนั้น ตื่นตระหนกด้วยความกลัว วิ่งพล่านไปทั่วทุกทิศ

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• सिंहम्: lion
• सिंहम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सिंह
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• समासाद्य: having approached/encountered
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-√सद्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral for gerund)

• मृगाः: deer/animals of the forest
• मृगाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्राणपरायणाः: intent on saving their lives; life-dependent
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राण-परायण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• lion (siṁha)
• deer/wild animals (mṛga)
• horses (implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in the face of overwhelming danger, living beings instinctively prioritize the preservation of life; it underscores the terror and chaos that war unleashes even upon animals, revealing the ethical weight of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene through a simile: as deer scatter when a lion appears, so the horses being slain are seized by fear and bolt in different directions.