Shloka 15
अभूतां तावदृश्यौ च शरजालै: समन्तत: । मेघजालैरिव च्छन्नौ गगने चन्द्रभास्करी,आकाशमें मेघोंकी घटासे आच्छादित हुए चन्द्रमा और सूर्यके समान वे दोनों वीर सब ओरसे बाणसमूहोंद्वारा ठककर अदृश्य हो गये थे इति श्रीमहाभारते कर्णपर्वणि अश्वत्थामभीमसेनयोर्युद्धे पजचदशो<5ध्याय:
abhūtāṃ tāvadṛśyau ca śarajālaiḥ samantataḥ | meghajālair iva channau gagane candrabhāskarī ||
Sañjaya said: For a time, those two heroes vanished from sight, hemmed in on every side by a dense net of arrows—like the moon and the sun in the sky when they are covered over by masses of cloud.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the chaos of war can eclipse even the most eminent figures: like sun and moon hidden by clouds, warriors’ brilliance and identity can be obscured by the sheer volume of violence. Ethically, it hints at war’s power to distort perception and reduce persons to targets amid overwhelming weaponry.
Sañjaya describes the duel between Aśvatthāmā and Bhīma reaching such intensity that both become temporarily invisible, surrounded and concealed by a thick barrage of arrows, compared to the sun and moon covered by cloud-banks in the sky.