Shloka 15

अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च

Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter

Devanagari script

भनुर्मण्डलमेवास्य दृश्यते युधि भारत । सायकाश्रैव दृश्यन्ते निश्चरन्त: समन्ततः

Transliteration

bhānur-maṇḍalam evāsya dṛśyate yudhi bhārata | sāyakāś caiva dṛśyante niścarantaḥ samantataḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „O Bhārata, mitten im Kampf war nur der Kreis seines lodernden Glanzes zu sehen; und nur Pfeile sah man, die unaufhörlich nach allen Seiten hinausschossen.“

Word by Word

भानु-मण्डलम्the sun’s disc

एवindeed/just

अस्यof him/of this (one)

दृश्यतेis seen/appears

युधिin battle

भारतO Bharata

सायकाःarrows

इवlike/as if

दृश्यन्तेare seen/appear

निश्चरन्तःmoving forth/issuing out

समन्ततःon all sides

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

bhānu-maṇḍala (sun-disc, metaphorical radiance)

sāyaka (arrows)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how overwhelming martial energy can dominate perception in war: the warrior’s presence is conveyed not by detailed form but by a halo-like radiance and the relentless outward flow of arrows. Ethically, it underscores the epic’s tension between admiration for prowess and the grim, impersonal force of battlefield violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a combatant in such fierce action that observers can scarcely discern his body; they see only a sun-like circle of brilliance around him, while arrows continuously shoot out in every direction, indicating intense, all-sided engagement in the fight.