नर्तकाश् चाप्य् अनृत्यन्त जगुर् गीतानि गायकाः ॥
कुरुवंशस्तवार्थानि मधुरं रक्तकण्ठिनः ॥
मृदङ्गा झर्झरा भेर्यः पणवानकगोमुखाः ॥
आडम्बराश् च शङ्खाश् च दुन्दुभ्यश् च महास्वनाः ॥
एवम् एतानि सर्वाणि तथान्यान्य् अपि भारत ॥
वादयन्ति स्म संहृष्टाः कुशलाः साधुशिक्षिताः ॥
nartakāś cāpy anṛtyanta jagur gītāni gāyakāḥ ||
kuruvaṃśastavārthāni madhuraṃ raktakaṇṭhinaḥ ||
mṛdaṅgā jharjharā bheryaḥ paṇavānakagomukhāḥ ||
āḍambarāś ca śaṅkhāś ca dundubhyaś ca mahāsvanāḥ ||
evam etāni sarvāṇi tathānyāny api bhārata ||
vādayanti sma saṃhṛṣṭāḥ kuśalāḥ sādhuśikṣitāḥ ||
And the dancers danced, and singers sang songs in praise of the Kuru line — sweetly, the sweet-voiced ones. Mridangas, jharjharas, kettledrums, panavas, anakas, gomukhas, drums and conches, and loud-sounding kettledrums — thus all these and other [instruments], O Bharata, were played by joyful, skilled, well-trained musicians.
754f3b644a3a · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:36:52 PM UTC
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The morning is greeted with the whole many-voiced art — dance, song, the thunder of many instruments. It is telling that praise "kuruvaṃśastavārthāni", in glory of the line, is sung at the very hour when that same line destroys itself on the battlefield: the splendor of the court and the horror of war stand side by side. The verse, without condemning, simply reveals the custom: even on the eve of the most dreadful day, the order of reverence and celebration is kept. And in this is a reminder that outer decorum finds meaning only where behind it stands faithfulness to duty, for whose sake this day dawns at all.