Shloka 23
तत् सागरमिवोद्धूतं रजसा संवृतं बलम्
tat sāgaram ivoddhūtaṁ rajasā saṁvṛtaṁ balam
Sañjaya said: That army, churned up like the ocean and veiled in clouds of dust, surged in tumult—an image of war’s moral blindness, where sheer force and confusion momentarily eclipse clear discernment of right conduct.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare generates turbulence and obscuration: like an ocean in upheaval, the army becomes a mass of agitated power, and dust hides clarity—suggesting that in violent conflict moral and practical discernment can be easily clouded.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that the forces on the battlefield are in intense motion; the host is violently stirred and wrapped in dust, indicating a fierce clash and the confusion of close combat.