Shloka 3
Jayadratha-rakṣā: Conch Signals and Encirclement of Arjuna
Chapter 79
कथमिन्दीवरश्यामं सुदष्ट्रं चारुलोचनम् । मुखं ते दृश्यते वत्स गुण्ठितं रणरेणुना,“वत्स! नील कमलके समान श्याम, सुन्दर दन्तपंक्तियोंसे सुशोभित, मनोहर नेत्रोंवाला तुम्हारा मुख आज युद्धकी धूलसे आच्छादित होकर कैसा दिखायी देता होगा?
katham indīvaraśyāmaṃ sudaṣṭraṃ cārulocanam | mukhaṃ te dṛśyate vatsa guṇṭhitaṃ raṇareṇunā ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Mein Kind, wie erscheint heute dein Antlitz—dunkel wie der blaue Lotos, geschmückt mit schönen Zähnen und lieblichen Augen—nun vom Staub der Schlacht verhüllt?“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human cost of war: even a noble, beautiful, and worthy person is physically and symbolically obscured by the dust of violence. It invites ethical reflection on how conflict covers innate dignity and tenderness beneath harsh necessity.
Sañjaya addresses someone affectionately as “vatsa,” picturing that person’s lotus-dark, handsome face now covered with battlefield dust. The moment functions as a vivid, emotional description amid the Drona Parva’s combat narrative.