Shloka 233
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
नापश्याम रजो भौम॑ कश्मलेनाभिसंवृता: । मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियोंके रक्तमें सन जानेके कारण हमें धरतीकी धूल दिखायी नहीं देती थी। हम सब लोगोंपर मोह-सा छा गया था
sañjaya uvāca |
nāpaśyāma rajo bhaumaṁ kaśmalenābhisaṁvṛtāḥ |
قال سنجيا: لم نعد نرى غبار الأرض، إذ كنا مُحاطين بالحيرة والذهول. فقد تشبّع كل شيء بدماء الرجال والخيول والفيلة حتى اسودّت المعالم، فلم يعد غبار التراب نفسه يُرى؛ وسرت فينا جميعًا غشاوةٌ من الوهم وسط المذبحة.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war generates not only physical obscurity (dust and blood) but also inner obscurity (kaśmala—bewilderment). Ethical perception becomes clouded amid mass violence, suggesting that adharma-like confusion can overtake even observers when destruction dominates the scene.
Sañjaya reports the battlefield condition: the ground’s dust cannot be seen because everything is soaked and darkened by blood from humans, horses, and elephants, and the witnesses feel overwhelmed by a spreading delusion or stupefaction caused by the horrific intensity of the fighting.