Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 24
Adhyāya 55: Pārtha–Rādheya Saṃvāda and Tactical Exchange
Chapter 55
संततास्तत्र मातड्भरा बाणैरल्पान्तरान्तरे । संवृतास्तेन दृश्यन्ते मेघा इव गभस्तिभि:
santatās tatra mātaṅgabharā bāṇair alpāntarāntare | saṃvṛtās tena dṛśyante meghā iva gabhastibhiḥ ||
বৈশম্পায়ন ক’লে—সেই ৰণভূমিত থিয় হৈ থকা হাতীবোৰৰ অঙ্গ-প্ৰত্যঙ্গ অতি সৰু সৰু ব্যৱধানত শৰদ্বাৰা নিৰন্তৰ বিদ্ধ হৈছিল। সেই শৰবোৰে সৰ্বাঙ্গ ঢাকি পেলোৱাত সিহঁত সূৰ্যকিৰণে আৱৃত মেঘপুঞ্জৰ দৰে দেখা গৈছিল।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a stark ethical reminder through imagery: war’s glory is inseparable from pervasive suffering. By comparing arrow-covered elephants to clouds veiled by sunlight, it emphasizes how violence obscures life and dignity, urging reflection on the human and animal cost of conflict.
The narrator describes the battlefield scene: elephants standing in combat have their bodies densely riddled with arrows, so thoroughly covered that they resemble clouds wrapped in sunbeams.