Shloka 306
अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
प्रफुल्लं पड़कजं यद्वद् भ्रमरा मधुलिप्सव: | कारीगरके द्वारा साफ किये गये वे बाण धृष्टद्युम्नके मुखकी ऐसी शोभा बढ़ाने लगे, मानो मधुलोभी भ्रमर प्रफुल्ल कमल-पुष्पका रसास्वादन कर रहे हों
praphullaṁ paṅkajaṁ yadvad bhramarā madhulipsavaḥ |
Sañjaya said: Just as honey-seeking bees crowd around a fully blossomed lotus, so those well-cleaned, expertly fashioned arrows seemed to heighten the splendor of Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s face—as though bees, greedy for nectar, were tasting the juice of an open lotus.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it highlights how poetic vision can frame even instruments of violence (arrows) as enhancing a warrior’s radiance. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s tension—war is grim, yet kṣatriya valor and skill are aesthetically celebrated within the battlefield narrative.
Sañjaya describes Dhṛṣṭadyumna in battle: arrows—cleaned and prepared by skilled craftsmen—appear to adorn or intensify the brilliance of his face, compared to bees swarming a blossomed lotus to drink nectar.