Shloka 24

Gadāyuddhe Kṛṣṇopadeśaḥ (Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel in the Mace-Duel) — Śalya-parva 57

Devanagari script

एवं तदभवद्‌ युद्ध घोररूपं परंतप । परिवृत्ते5हनि क्रूरं वृत्रवासवयोरिव

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | evaṃ tad abhavad yuddhaṃ ghorarūpaṃ parantapa | parivṛtte 'hani krūraṃ vṛtrāvāsavayor iva ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：于是那场战斗呈现出可怖之形，噬敌者啊。待白昼转向（将近黄昏）之时，它愈发残酷——恰如弗栗陀罗与婆娑婆（因陀罗）之间那骇人的恶战。

Word by Word

एवम्thus

तत्that (event/thing)

अभवत्became / happened

युद्धम्battle

घोररूपम्of terrible form

परंतपO scorcher of foes

परिवृत्तेwhen (it) had turned/elapsed

अहनिon the day

क्रूरम्cruel, fierce

वृत्रवासवयोःof Vṛtra and Vāsava (Indra)

इवlike, as if

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by vocative parantapa)

Vṛtra

Vāsava (Indra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war, once unleashed, tends to intensify into cruelty as momentum and desperation grow; by invoking the cosmic duel of Vṛtra and Indra, it frames human conflict as a force that can eclipse ordinary restraint, warning of the ethical collapse that prolonged violence can bring.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting has become terrifying and, as the day advances, increasingly savage—comparing its ferocity to the legendary battle between Vṛtra and Indra.