Shloka 29

Devanagari script

पश्याम राजन्‌ संसक्तान्‌ सैन्येन रजसा5<वृतान्‌ | राजन! भूमण्डलके राजवंशमें उत्पन्न हुए क्षत्रियोंका वह महान्‌ संहार उपस्थित होनेपर वहाँ युद्धमें तत्पर हुए सब लोग सेनाद्वारा उड़ायी हुई धूलसे ढक गये थे। इसीलिये हमलोग वहाँ न तो कर्णको देख पाते थे, न द्रोणाचार्यको। न अर्जुन दिखायी देते थे, न युधिष्ठिर। भीमसेन, नकुल, सहदेव, धृष्टद्युम्न और सात्यकिको भी हम नहीं देख पाते थे। दुःशासन, अश्वत्थामा, दुर्योधन, शकुनि, कृपाचार्य, शल्य, कृतवर्मा तथा अन्य महारथी भी हमारी दृष्टिमें नहीं आते थे। औरोंकी तो बात ही क्या है? हम अपने शरीरको भी नहीं देख पाते थे, पृथिवी और दिशाएँ भी नहीं सूझती थीं || २६--२८ ई ।। सम्भ्रान्ते तुमुले घोरे रजोमेघे समुत्थिते

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | paśyāma rājan saṃsaktān sainyena rajasāvṛtān | sambhrānte tumule ghore rajomeghe samutthite ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O King, we beheld the warriors locked in close combat, yet they were shrouded by the dust raised by the armies. When that dreadful, tumultuous confusion arose and a cloud of dust billowed up, vision failed—friend and foe alike became indistinguishable, and the battlefield itself seemed swallowed by darkness and grit.”

Word by Word

पश्यामwe see

राजन्O king

संसक्तान्engaged/locked (in combat)

सैन्येनby the army

रजसाby dust

आवृतान्covered/veiled

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Rājan)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war generates not only physical destruction but also moral and perceptual obscurity: in the dust and tumult, discernment collapses, symbolizing how violence clouds judgment and makes right action harder to perceive.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the armies have closed in for fierce fighting, and the dust raised by their movement forms a thick, terrifying cloud, obscuring visibility across the battlefield.