Shloka 11
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 55 — Sañjaya’s Report on Pāṇḍava Readiness and Arjuna’s Dhvaja
यथा55काशे शक्रधनु: प्रकाशते न चैकवर्ण न च वेझि कि नु तत् । तथा ध्वजो विहितो भौमनेन बह्दाकारं दृश्यते रूपमस्य
yathākāśe śakradhanuḥ prakāśate na caikavarṇaṃ na ca vedi ki nu tat | tathā dhvajo vihito bhaumanena bahv-ākāraṃ dṛśyate rūpam asya ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Así como el arco iris de Indra resplandece en el cielo —sin ser de un solo color y sin que pueda determinarse con claridad qué es en verdad—, así también este estandarte, forjado por Bhaumana, se muestra bajo muchas formas. Su apariencia es múltiple y prodigiosa, y confunde la certeza ordinaria, acrecentando la grandeza ominosa del conflicto venidero.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the limits of ordinary perception: some phenomena—like a rainbow or a wondrous war-banner—appear vividly yet resist simple, single-category description. In the ethical atmosphere of Udyoga Parva, such imagery intensifies the sense that the approaching war is charged with extraordinary, unsettling forces.
Sañjaya is describing a remarkable banner associated with Bhaumana. He compares its shifting, many-colored appearance to Indra’s rainbow in the sky, emphasizing that it looks multiform and hard to pin down—an evocative detail amid the preparations and portents surrounding the impending conflict.