Shloka 16
कर्णस्य एकाकि-प्रहारः तथा पाण्डव-महारथ-परिवेष्टनम् | Karṇa’s concentrated assault and the Pāṇḍava encirclement
सा दिव्यमाल्यैरवकीर्यमाणा सुवर्णपुड्खैश्न शरैर्विचित्रै: । नक्षत्रसंघैरिव चित्रिता द्यौ: क्षितिर्बभौ योधवरैर्विचित्रा,दिव्य मालाओं तथा सुवर्णमय पंखवाले विचित्र बाणोंसे आच्छादित और श्रेष्ठ योद्धाओंसे विचित्र शोभाको प्राप्त हुई वह रणभूमि नक्षत्रसमूहोंसे चित्रित आकाशके समान सुशोभित हो रही थी
sā divyamālyair avakīryamāṇā suvarṇapuḍkhaiś ca śaraiḥ vicitraiḥ | nakṣatrasaṅghair iva citritā dyauḥ kṣitir babhau yodhavarair vicitrā ||
Sañjaya said: The battlefield, strewn with celestial garlands and covered with wondrous arrows whose shafts were fitted with golden feathers, shone resplendent. Adorned with excellent warriors, the earth appeared like the sky painted with clusters of stars.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the paradox of war: even scenes of destruction can appear dazzling. It implicitly cautions that beauty and grandeur do not sanctify violence; ethical discernment (dharma) must not be eclipsed by spectacle.
Sañjaya poetically describes the battlefield’s appearance—strewn with garlands and filled with ornate, golden-fletched arrows—so that the earth seems like a star-filled sky, made ‘variegated’ by the presence of many eminent warriors.