Shloka 32
Rajo-dhūli-saṃmūḍha-saṅgrāmaḥ
The Dust-Obscured Battle and Mutual Charges
नानाधातुविचित्राणि कार्मुकाणि महात्मनाम् | विस्फारितान्यदृश्यन्त तोयदेष्विव विद्युत:,इन महामना वीरोंके फैलाये हुए अनेक रूप-रंगके विचित्र धनुष बादलोंमें बिजलियोंके समान दृष्टिगोचर हो रहे थे
nānādhātuvicitrāṇi kārmukāṇi mahātmanām | visphāritāny adṛśyanta toyadeṣv iva vidyutaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Les nombreux arcs de ces héros à l’âme grande—bigarrés de métaux divers et d’un ouvrage merveilleux—se voyaient bandés à pleine tension, étincelant comme l’éclair au milieu des nuées de pluie.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers no direct moral injunction, but its simile underscores the ethical weight of war: noble warriors, fully prepared, embody disciplined power. The brilliance of their arms is inseparable from the grave consequences of their use, reminding the listener that martial excellence must be governed by dharma.
Sañjaya narrates the battlefield scene: great warriors have drawn and displayed their bows, which appear dazzling and multicolored, likened to lightning flashing within rain-clouds—an intensification of the atmosphere just before combat.