Shloka 16

Devanagari script

हाहाकार: समभवत्‌ तत्र तत्र सहस्रशः । अन्योन्यं छिन्दतां शस्त्रैरादित्ये लोहितायति,संध्याके समय जब सूर्यमण्डल लाल हो रहा था, एक-दूसरेके शस्त्रोंसे कटनेवाले सहस्रों योद्धाओंका हाहाकार इधर-उधर सब ओर गूँज उठा

Transliteration

hāhākāraḥ samabhavat tatra tatra sahasraśaḥ | anyonyaṃ chindatāṃ śastrair āditye lohitāyati ||

Translation

Khi hoàng hôn đến gần và đĩa mặt trời đỏ rực, tiếng kêu than thảm thiết vang lên khắp nơi, hết lần này đến lần khác, ở vô số chốn—trong lúc các chiến binh, cuồng nộ đối chọi, chém giết lẫn nhau bằng binh khí.

Word by Word

हाहाकारःcry of distress, uproar

समभवत्arose, happened

तत्रthere

तत्रhere and there

सहस्रशःby thousands, in thousands

अन्योन्यम्one another, mutually

छिन्दताम्of (those) cutting

शस्त्रैःwith weapons

आदित्येwhen/while the sun (was ...), in the sun

लोहितायतिbecomes red, reddens

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

āditya (the Sun)

śastra (weapons)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical cost of violence: when mutual hatred governs action, battle produces widespread, indiscriminate anguish. It implicitly warns that dharma requires restraint and discernment, without which conflict devolves into collective suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

At evening, as the sun turns red, fighting intensifies and thousands of warriors cut one another with weapons. Their cries of pain and panic echo everywhere, conveying the scale and chaos of the slaughter.