Shloka 43
नारायणास्त्र-शमनं द्रौणि-प्रहारश्च
Pacification of the Nārāyaṇāstra and Drauni’s Renewed Assault
अदृश्यन्त महाराज महोल्का इव खाच्च्युता: । महाराज! रथों, हाथियों और घोड़ोंपर चलती हुई मशालें आकाशसे गिरी हुई बड़ी-बड़ी उल्काओंके समान दिखायी देती थीं || ४२ $ ।। सा निशा भरतश्रेष्ठ प्रदीपेरवभासिता
adṛśyanta mahārāja maholkā iva khāc cyutāḥ | sā niśā bharataśreṣṭha pradīpair avabhāsitā ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, those moving torches—borne upon chariots, elephants, and horses—appeared like great meteors fallen from the sky. Thus, O best of the Bharatas, the night was lit up by lamps.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war transforms natural order: night becomes bright, and human-made torches resemble celestial meteors. Ethically, it suggests the unsettling inversion caused by violence—darkness and fear are not removed, only made more glaring by the blaze of conflict.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at night: torches moving with chariots, elephants, and horses look like large meteors fallen from the sky, and the entire night scene is illuminated by these lamps.