Shloka 22

Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality

Devanagari script

पाण्डव: परवीरघ्न: सहदेव: प्रतापवान्‌ | ततो<स्य सुमहद्‌ युद्धमासीद्‌ भीरुभयंकरम्‌

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | pāṇḍavaḥ paravīraghnaḥ sahadevaḥ pratāpavān | tato 'sya sumahad yuddham āsīd bhīrubhayaṅkaram |

Translation

پانڈوپتر سہ دیو بڑا پرتاپی اور دشمن کے سورماؤں کا قاتل تھا۔ پھر اس کے لیے ایک نہایت عظیم جنگ برپا ہوئی، جو بزدلوں کو بھی دہشت زدہ کر دینے والی تھی۔

Word by Word

• {'pāṇḍavaḥ': 'a son of Pāṇḍu

• one of the Pāṇḍava brothers', 'paravīraghnaḥ': 'slayer of enemy heroes (para-vīra-ghna)', 'sahadevaḥ': 'Sahadeva (youngest Pāṇḍava)', 'pratāpavān': 'powerful, valorous, possessed of splendor/energy', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'asya': 'for him

• of him', 'sumahat': 'very great, immense', 'yuddham': 'battle, war', 'āsīt': 'was, arose', 'bhīru-bhayaṅkaram': 'terrifying to the timid/cowardly

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Sahadeva
• Pāṇḍavas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds kṣatriya valor and the stark ethical reality of war: true heroism is measured by steadfastness amid mortal danger, while battle inevitably brings fear, destruction, and uncertainty of life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Sahadeva as a formidable Pāṇḍava warrior and introduces the onset of an immense, fearsome battle involving him, emphasizing its intensity and terror for the faint-hearted.