Shloka 21

गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह

Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation

Devanagari script

शब्दायमाने संग्रामे पटहे कर्णदारिणि | युद्धयमानस्य संग्रामे कुर्वतः पौरुषं स्वकम्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | śabdāyamāne saṅgrāme paṭahe karṇadāriṇi | yudhyamānasya saṅgrāme kurvataḥ pauruṣaṃ svakam | jighāṃsantaṃ yudhāṃ śreṣṭhaṃ tadā āsīt tumulaṃ mahat ||

Translation

Sañjaya thưa: “Tâu Đại vương, khi chiến địa vang rền, khi trống trận—dội thấu tai—được thúc lên, và khi các dũng sĩ đang giao chiến, ai nấy phô bày dũng lực của mình, họ liền ào tới với ý định giết kẻ đứng đầu trong hàng chiến sĩ. Ngay lúc ấy, một cuộc va chạm mênh mông và cuồng loạn bùng nổ.”

Word by Word

• शब्दायमाने: while resounding
• शब्दायमाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शब्दायमान
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

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

• पटहे: on/at the war-drum
• पटहे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पटह
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• कर्णदारिणि: ear-splitting (drum)
• कर्णदारिणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कर्णदारिन्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• युद्धयमानस्य: of (one who is) fighting
• युद्धयमानस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युद्धयमान
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

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

• कुर्वतः: of (one who is) doing/performing
• कुर्वतः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• पौरुषम्: manly valor
• पौरुषम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पौरुष
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• स्वकम्: his own
• स्वकम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• जिघांसन्तम्: wishing to kill
• जिघांसन्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• युधाम्: of battles / of fighters
• युधाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: युध्
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• श्रेष्ठ: O best (of warriors)
• श्रेष्ठ: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• आसीत्: was
• आसीत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Imperfect, 3, Singular

• तुमुलम्: tumultuous
• तुमुलम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तुमुल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• महत्: great
• महत्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by ‘O King’)
• paṭaha (war-drum)
• saṅgrāma (battlefield)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war amplifies human impulses—valor, rivalry, and the intent to kill—showing the ethical tension of kṣatriya-duty: courage and prowess are praised, yet they unfold within destructive violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has become deafening with drums and combat; warriors, displaying their prowess, press forward with lethal intent against the foremost fighter, and a massive, chaotic engagement erupts.