Shloka 10

Devanagari script

महाभनुर्मण्डलमध्यगावुभौ सुवर्चसौ बाणसहस्रदीधिती

Transliteration

mahābhānur maṇḍalamadhyagāv ubhau suvarcasau bāṇasahasradīdhitī

Translation

Sañjaya said: Both of them, standing in the very midst of the blazing circle like a great sun, shone with splendid radiance, their brilliance flashing forth as if from thousands of arrows.

Word by Word

• महाभानुर्मण्डलमध्यगावुभौ: the two who were in the midst of the great sun-orb
• महाभानुर्मण्डलमध्यगावुभौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाभानु-मण्डल-मध्य-ग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• सुवर्चसौ: the two radiant ones
• सुवर्चसौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुवर्चस्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• बाणसहस्रदीधिती: the two whose radiance was (like) a thousand arrows
• बाणसहस्रदीधिती: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाण-सहस्र-दीधिति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• sun (metaphor)
• arrows

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse does not state a direct moral injunction; its teaching is implicit: war can appear dazzling and heroic, yet that very brilliance is powered by instruments of harm (arrows). It invites reflection on how glory and destruction can coexist, complicating ethical judgment in a dharma-conflicted battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two opposing warriors in the thick of combat, portraying them as radiant like the sun at the center of a blazing circle, their splendor likened to the flashing light of thousands of arrows—an image emphasizing intensity, prowess, and the ferocity of the encounter.