Shloka 24
राजन! वे समरांगणमें एक-दूसरेको ललकारते हुए जूझ रहे थे। उस समय उस भीषण संघर्षमे सहसा बड़े जोरकी धूल उठी, जो हाथी, घोड़े और पैदलोंके पैरों तथा रथके पहियोंके धक्केसे उठायी गयी थी ।। धूम्रारुणं रजस्तीव्रं रणभूमिं समावृणोत् । नैव स्वे न परे राजन् समजानम् परस्परम्,महाराज! काले और लाल रंगकी उस दुःसह धूलने समस्त रणभूमिको ढक लिया। उस समय अपने और शत्रुपक्षके योद्धा एक-दूसरेको पहचान नहीं पाते थे
sañjaya uvāca |
rājan! te samarāṅgaṇe anyonyam āhvayantaḥ yuyudhānaḥ | tasmin bhīṣaṇe saṅgrāme sahasā mahāvegaṃ rajaḥ samutthitam, yad gaja-aśva-pādāta-pādaiḥ ratha-cakra-pratighātaiś ca utthāpitam ||
dhūmrāruṇaṃ rajas tīvraṃ raṇabhūmiṃ samāvṛṇot | naiva sve na pare rājan samajānān parasparam ||
Sañjaya said: O King, as the warriors challenged one another and grappled on the field, a sudden, violent cloud of dust rose in that dreadful clash—thrown up by the pounding feet of elephants, horses, and infantry, and by the battering wheels of chariots. That thick dust, smoky and reddish, blanketed the entire battlefield; in it, O King, neither side could clearly recognize its own men or the enemy.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the chaos of war obscures discernment: when the battlefield is veiled in dust, even basic recognition fails, symbolizing the ethical and cognitive blindness that violence can produce.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid mutual challenges and close combat, a dense smoky-reddish dust cloud rises from the trampling of elephants, horses, infantry, and chariot wheels, covering the field so that fighters cannot distinguish friend from foe.