Shloka 233
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
नापश्याम रजो भौम॑ कश्मलेनाभिसंवृता: । मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियोंके रक्तमें सन जानेके कारण हमें धरतीकी धूल दिखायी नहीं देती थी। हम सब लोगोंपर मोह-सा छा गया था
sañjaya uvāca |
nāpaśyāma rajo bhaumaṁ kaśmalenābhisaṁvṛtāḥ |
Sañjaya dit : Nous ne pouvions plus voir la poussière née de la terre, tant nous étions enveloppés de trouble. Le sang des hommes, des chevaux et des éléphants imbibait et assombrissait toute chose, au point que la poussière même du sol ne se distinguait plus ; une sorte de délire se répandit sur nous tous au cœur du carnage.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war generates not only physical obscurity (dust and blood) but also inner obscurity (kaśmala—bewilderment). Ethical perception becomes clouded amid mass violence, suggesting that adharma-like confusion can overtake even observers when destruction dominates the scene.
Sañjaya reports the battlefield condition: the ground’s dust cannot be seen because everything is soaked and darkened by blood from humans, horses, and elephants, and the witnesses feel overwhelmed by a spreading delusion or stupefaction caused by the horrific intensity of the fighting.