Shloka 31
Chapter 30: Formation Disruption, Competing War-Cries, and Nīla’s Fall
Droṇa-parva
नापश्याम ततत्त्वेनं सैन्ये वै रजसावृते
nāpaśyāma tatattvenaṃ sainye vai rajasāvṛte
Sañjaya dit : Dans cette armée, voilée par la poussière du combat, nous ne pûmes le discerner clairement dans son état et sa position véritables. La confusion de la guerre obscurcissait la juste perception, rendant la certitude difficile au cœur du tumulte.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the conditions of conflict—dust, agitation, and chaos—distort perception. Ethically, it suggests caution in judgment during turmoil: when clarity is obstructed, certainty about persons and events becomes unreliable.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, amid the dust-choked battlefield and the press of armies, they could not clearly make out the person being referred to (him) in a definite, truthful way.