Shloka 38

Devanagari script

तैरश्मचूर्णै्दीप्यद्धि: खद्योतानामिव व्रजै: । प्राय: सैन्यान्यहन्यन्त हाहाभूतानि मारिष

Transliteration

taiḥ śmacūrṇair dīpyadbhir khadyotānām iva vrajaiḥ | prāyaḥ sainyāny ahanyanta hāhābhūtāni māriṣa ||

Translation

尊贵的王啊！那些燃亮的碎石如萤群飞舞般倾泻而下，几乎全军皆被击伤，哀号之声四起：“哀哉！哀哉！”

Word by Word

• तैः: by those
• तैः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, instrumental, plural

• अश्मचूर्णैः: with stone-dust/powdered rocks
• अश्मचूर्णैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्मचूर्ण
• Form: neuter, instrumental, plural

• दीप्यत्: shining, blazing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीप्
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• हि: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• खद्योतानाम्: of fireflies
• Type: Noun
• Root: खद्योत
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

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

• व्रजैः: with groups/swarms
• व्रजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्रज
• Form: masculine, instrumental, plural

• प्रायः: for the most part, almost
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रायः

• सैन्यानि: armies, troops
• सैन्यानि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्य
• Form: neuter, nominative, plural

• अहन्यन्त: were struck/being slain
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: imperfect (laṅ), 3rd, plural, passive (karmaṇi)

• हाहाभूतानि: having become ‘hāhā’ (wailing), panic-stricken
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हाहाभूत
• Form: neuter, nominative, plural

• मारिष: O venerable sir
• Type: Noun
• Root: मारिष
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• माननीय: O worthy of honor
• Type: Adjective
• Root: माननीय
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• नरेश: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरेश
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• armies/troops (sainyāni)
• stone-fragments/stone-dust (aśma-cūrṇa)
• fireflies (khadyota)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical horror of war: once violence escalates, harm spreads widely and indiscriminately, and the battlefield becomes dominated by collective anguish rather than righteous order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes blazing stone-fragments flying about like swarms of fireflies; these strike the troops on all sides, and the armies, badly hurt, erupt into cries of distress (‘hāhā’).