Shloka 226

Devanagari script

संग्रामे भरतश्रेष्ठ देवानां दानवैरिव । भरतभूषण! उनका वह भयंकर युद्ध देवासुरसंग्रामके समान रोंगटे खड़े कर देनेवाला था

Transliteration

saṅgrāme bharataśreṣṭha devānāṃ dānavair iva | bharatabhūṣaṇa! unakā vaha bhayaṅkara yuddha devāsura-saṅgrāma-ke samāna roṅgaṭe khaḍe kara dene-vālā thā |

Translation

Sañjaya nói: “Hỡi bậc nhất trong dòng Bharata, hỡi niềm trang sức của giống Bharata! Trận chiến ghê rợn ấy tựa như cuộc giao tranh giữa chư thiên và loài a-tu-la—kinh hãi đến nỗi khiến người ta dựng tóc gáy.”

Word by Word

• संग्रामे: in the battle
• संग्रामे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संग्राम
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• भरतश्रेष्ठ: O best of the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत-श्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• देवानाम्: of the gods
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• दानवैः: by/with the demons (Dānavas)
• दानवैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दानव
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• भरतभूषण: O ornament of the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत-भूषण
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bharata lineage (addressed person, traditionally Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• Devas
• Dānavas/Asuras
• Devāsura-saṅgrāma (archetypal divine-demonic war)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames human warfare within a cosmic moral imagination: the Kurukṣetra battle is portrayed as so vast and dreadful that it resembles the archetypal devas-versus-asuras conflict. Ethically, it underscores the gravity of kṣatriya violence—its awe, terror, and world-shaking consequences—rather than glorifying it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is reporting the intensity of the fighting to the Bharata king (addressed with honorifics). He uses a powerful simile—comparing the scene to the divine-demonic war—to convey how frightening and extraordinary the battle has become.