Shloka 11
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 55 — Sañjaya’s Report on Pāṇḍava Readiness and Arjuna’s Dhvaja
यथा55काशे शक्रधनु: प्रकाशते न चैकवर्ण न च वेझि कि नु तत् । तथा ध्वजो विहितो भौमनेन बह्दाकारं दृश्यते रूपमस्य
yathākāśe śakradhanuḥ prakāśate na caikavarṇaṃ na ca vedi ki nu tat | tathā dhvajo vihito bhaumanena bahv-ākāraṃ dṛśyate rūpam asya ||
Sañjaya sagte: „Wie Indras Regenbogen am Himmel leuchtet —nicht einfarbig, und man vermag nicht klar zu bestimmen, was er in Wahrheit ist—, so erscheint auch dieses Banner, von Bhaumana gefertigt, in vielerlei Gestalten. Sein Anblick ist mannigfaltig und wundersam, verwirrt die gewöhnliche Gewissheit und steigert die unheilvolle Erhabenheit des heraufziehenden Konflikts.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the limits of ordinary perception: some phenomena—like a rainbow or a wondrous war-banner—appear vividly yet resist simple, single-category description. In the ethical atmosphere of Udyoga Parva, such imagery intensifies the sense that the approaching war is charged with extraordinary, unsettling forces.
Sañjaya is describing a remarkable banner associated with Bhaumana. He compares its shifting, many-colored appearance to Indra’s rainbow in the sky, emphasizing that it looks multiform and hard to pin down—an evocative detail amid the preparations and portents surrounding the impending conflict.