Mahabharata 7.20.39 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 20, Shloka 39
Droṇa’s Renewed Advance toward Yudhiṣṭhira; Fall of Satyajit and Allied Recoil (द्रोणस्य युधिष्ठिरप्रेप्सा—सत्यजितः पतनम्)
विप्रकीर्णपताकास्ते विषाणजनिताग्नय: । बभूवु: खं समासाद्य सविद्युत इवाम्बुदा:
viprakīrṇapatākās te viṣāṇajanitāgnayaḥ | babhūvuḥ khaṃ samāsādya savidyuta ivāmbudāḥ ||
قال سانجايا: تفرّقت راياتهم، وارتفعت نيرانهم—كأنها أُضرمت بصخب الأبواق—حتى لامست السماء، مثل سحبٍ تتلألأ بالبرق.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it highlights how war magnifies human actions into overwhelming, almost cosmic phenomena. Ethically, it underscores the destructive momentum of battle—signals meant to coordinate become part of a terrifying spectacle—inviting reflection on the cost and uncontrollable spread of violence.
Sañjaya depicts the battlefield at a moment of intense tumult: standards are thrown into disarray, and flames associated with the war-cries and horn-blasts surge upward. He compares the skyward-rising fires to thunderclouds lit by lightning, emphasizing the scale and dread of the conflict.
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