Shloka 16
कर्णस्य एकाकि-प्रहारः तथा पाण्डव-महारथ-परिवेष्टनम् | Karṇa’s concentrated assault and the Pāṇḍava encirclement
सा दिव्यमाल्यैरवकीर्यमाणा सुवर्णपुड्खैश्न शरैर्विचित्रै: । नक्षत्रसंघैरिव चित्रिता द्यौ: क्षितिर्बभौ योधवरैर्विचित्रा
sā divyamālyair avakīryamāṇā suvarṇapuḍkhaiś ca śaraiḥ vicitraiḥ | nakṣatrasaṅghair iva citritā dyauḥ kṣitir babhau yodhavarair vicitrā ||
দিব্য মালায় ছেয়ে ও সোনালি পাখনাযুক্ত বিচিত্র শরবৃষ্টিতে আচ্ছাদিত, শ্রেষ্ঠ যোদ্ধাদের দ্বারা অলংকৃত সেই রণক্ষেত্র নক্ষত্রপুঞ্জে চিত্রিত আকাশের মতোই দীপ্তিমান হয়ে উঠল।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the paradox of war: even scenes of destruction can appear dazzling. It implicitly cautions that beauty and grandeur do not sanctify violence; ethical discernment (dharma) must not be eclipsed by spectacle.
Sañjaya poetically describes the battlefield’s appearance—strewn with garlands and filled with ornate, golden-fletched arrows—so that the earth seems like a star-filled sky, made ‘variegated’ by the presence of many eminent warriors.