Shloka 20

Devanagari script

ते मिश्रा बह्दशो भन्‍त जवना वातरंहस: । पारावतसवर्णाशक्ष शोणाश्वा भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ! वे वायुके समान वेगशाली, कबूतरके समान रंगवाले और लाल घोड़े परस्पर मिलकर बड़ी शोभा पाने लगे

Transliteration

te miśrā bahudhaśo bhānti yavanā vātarāṁhasaḥ | pārāvatasavarṇāś ca śoṇāśvā bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O bull among the Bharatas, those horses—of mixed kinds and many varieties—shone brilliantly: swift as the wind, dove-coloured, and red. Mingling together in the press of war, they appeared all the more splendid.”

Word by Word

तेthose (they)

मिश्राःmingled, intermingled

बहुधाin many ways / variously

भान्तिshine, appear splendid

जवनाःswift

वातरंहसःhaving the speed of the wind

पारावतसवर्णाःof pigeon-like color

शोणाश्वाःred horses

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address: bharatarṣabha)

horses

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 primarily serves narrative and ethical framing: it highlights the dazzling, almost intoxicating splendour of war’s apparatus (horses and speed), implicitly reminding the listener that outward brilliance and martial beauty can accompany—and sometimes mask—the grim reality of violence and destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the striking appearance of the horses on the battlefield—variegated, extremely swift like the wind, dove-coloured and red—moving together and thereby creating a scene of heightened splendour amid the ongoing combat.