Санджая
यमराष्ट्रोपमं घोरम् आसीद् आयोधनं तयोः ॥
दुर्दर्शं भरतश्रेष्ठ प्रेतराजपुरं यथा ॥
समाजम् इव तच् चित्रं प्रेक्षमाणा महारथाः ॥
नालक्षयञ् जयं व्यक्तम् एकैकस्य निवारणे ॥
तयोः प्रैक्षन्त संमर्दं संनिकृष्टमहास्त्रयोः ॥
तव दुर्मन्त्रिते राजन् सपुत्रस्य विशां पते ॥
yamarāṣṭropamaṃ ghoram āsīd āyodhanaṃ tayoḥ ||
durdarśaṃ bharataśreṣṭha pretarājapuraṃ yathā ||
samājam iva tac citraṃ prekṣamāṇā mahārathāḥ ||
nālakṣayañ jayaṃ vyaktam ekaikasya nivāraṇe ||
tayoḥ praikṣanta saṃmardaṃ saṃnikṛṣṭamahāstrayoḥ ||
tava durmantrite rājan saputrasya viśāṃ pate ||
Terrible, like the realm of Yama, was the battlefield of those two, unbearable to behold, O best of the Bharatas, like the city of the king of the dead. Watching that wondrous sight, as if a festival, the great warriors could discern no clear victory in either one's repelling of the other. They beheld the clash of those two, closed together with their great weapons — a calamity born of your evil counsel, O king, together with your son, O lord of peoples.
74de4957a7fb · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:17:33 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The battlefield is likened to the city of the dead, and the deadly duel to a festive spectacle: an eye grown used to the horror of war begins to find delight in it. It is telling that Sanjaya, in the midst of the description, again rebukes the blind king: "by your evil counsel" — the root of this whole slaughter lies in his wrongful indulgence of his son. The verse teaches that the calamity of nations springs from the weakness of those who had power to stop it and stayed silent; the instigator's guilt stands behind every fallen man.