Shloka 16
Droṇotpattiḥ, Astralābhaḥ, Drupada-vairasya bījaṃ ca
The Birth of Droṇa, Acquisition of Weapons, and the Seed of Enmity with Drupada
वसुधारेणुसंवीती वसुधाधरसंनिभौ । बभ्राजतुर्यथा शैलौ नीहारेणाभिसंवृतौ,दोनोंका शरीर पृथ्वीकी धूलमें सना हुआ था। दोनों ही पर्वतोंके समान विशालकाय थे। उस समय वे दोनों कुहरेसे ढँके हुए दो पहाड़ोंके समान सुशोभित हो रहे थे
vasudhāreṇusaṃvītī vasudhādharasaṃnibhau | babhrājatur yathā śailau nīhāreṇābhisaṃvṛtau ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Both were covered with the dust of the earth, and in their massive build they resembled mountains. They shone like two mountains wrapped in mist.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily uses a powerful simile rather than explicit moral instruction: dust-covered bodies and mist-covered mountains evoke endurance, gravity, and the impersonal scale of conflict. Ethically, it frames the struggle as something weighty and consequential, where human action appears as formidable and fated as natural forces.
The narrator describes two figures (implied combatants) whose bodies are smeared with earth-dust. Their size and presence are compared to two mountains, and their dust-veiled appearance is likened to mountains hidden in mist, emphasizing the intensity and atmosphere of the scene.