Shloka 54

अस्त्रयुद्धे द्रौणिपार्थसंघर्षः — Karṇa’s Bhārgavāstra and the Search for Yudhiṣṭhira

Chapter 45

Devanagari script

सहेमचन्द्रतारार्का: पताका: किड्किणीयुता:

Transliteration

sahemacandratārārkāḥ patākāḥ kiḍkiṇīyutāḥ

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Die Banner — mit Gold geschmückt und mit den Zeichen von Mond, Sternen und Sonne — waren mit klingenden Glöckchen versehen.“

Word by Word

• सहेमचन्द्रतारार्काः: having gold, moon, stars, and suns (as ornaments/emblems)
• सहेमचन्द्रतारार्काः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-हेम-चन्द्र-तारा-अर्क
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• पताकाः: banners/flags
• पताकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पताका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• किङ्किणीयुताः: accompanied by small bells
• किङ्किणीयुताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: किङ्किणी-युत
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• banners/standards (patākāḥ)
• gold (hema)
• moon (candra)
• stars (tārāḥ)
• sun (arka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how war is framed with royal splendor and cosmic symbolism—banners marked by sun, moon, and stars—suggesting that human conflict is staged under the gaze of a larger moral and cosmic order, even when the scene itself is martial.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the battlefield array: the standards and flags of the warriors are richly decorated with gold and celestial emblems, and they carry tinkling bells—details that convey the grandeur and intensity of the armies’ display.