Shloka 5

Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

रथेषाश्न रथेषाभि: कूबरा रथकूबरै: । संगतैः सहिता: केचित्‌ परस्परजिघांसव:

Transliteration

ratheṣāśna ratheṣābhiḥ kūbarā rathakūbaraiḥ | saṃgataiḥ sahitāḥ kecit parasparajighāṃsavaḥ ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：车辕撞车辕，车轭与轭钉也与他车相击。有人在拥挤的冲压中紧紧挤作一团，彼此怀着必杀之心而移动——这是一幅战场图景：连贴身的距离都成了武器，仇恨压倒了克制。

Word by Word

• रथेषु: in chariots
• रथेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• आश्न: they ate/consumed
• आश्न: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अश् (अश्नाति)
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Plural

• रथेषु: in chariots
• रथेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• अभिः: towards/against; upon
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अभि

• कूबराः: poles (of chariots)
• कूबराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूबर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• रथकूबरैः: with chariot-poles
• रथकूबरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथकूबर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• संगतैः: having come together; in collision
• संगतैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संगत
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• सहिताः: joined/combined; together
• सहिताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• केचित्: some (persons)
• केचित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: कश्चित्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• परस्पर: mutually; each other
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परस्पर

• जिघांसवः: desirous of killing
• जिघांसवः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जिघांसु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• chariots (ratha)
• chariot-poles (īṣā)
• yokes/yoke-parts (kūbara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war compresses human agency into mechanical collision and mutual hatred: when people become 'packed together' with the intent to kill, ethical discernment is eclipsed by enmity. It implicitly warns that unchecked hostility turns even tools (chariots) into instruments of indiscriminate destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports the intensity of the Kurukṣetra fighting: chariots are so densely engaged that their poles and yokes strike each other, and combatants in the crush press together, each seeking the other's death.