Shloka 133
पृष्ठत: सोमसंकाशे उदर्क चाभ्रसन्निभे | दक्षिणायां तु रक्ताभे अधस्तान्नीलमण्डले
pṛṣṭhataḥ somasaṅkāśe udarke cābhrasannibhe | dakṣiṇāyāṃ tu raktābhe adhastān nīlamaṇḍale ||
Bhīṣma said: “Behind, it shone with the pale radiance of the moon; above, it resembled a mass of clouds. On the southern side it appeared reddish, while below there was a dark-blue circular expanse.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contributes to a didactic description using directional colors and celestial similes (moon, clouds, blue disk) to frame a larger moral-religious discussion: human conduct (dharma) is to be guided by attentive reading of signs, order, and meaning in the world, rather than by impulse.
Bhīṣma is describing the appearance of a phenomenon (with different hues and forms in different directions—behind, above, south, and below). The detail functions as part of a broader instructional passage in the Anuśāsana Parva, where visual/cosmic imagery supports the exposition.