Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 34
Adhyāya 55: Pārtha–Rādheya Saṃvāda and Tactical Exchange
Chapter 55
सार्क खं तत्क्षणेनासीत् संध्यायामिव लोहितम् | अप्यस्तं प्राप्य सूर्योडपि निवर्तेत न पाण्डव:
sārka-khaṁ tat-kṣaṇenāsīt sandhyāyām iva lohitam | apy astaṁ prāpya sūryo 'pi nivarteta na pāṇḍavaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : À l’instant même, le ciel, avec le soleil, devint cramoisi — tel l’occident au crépuscule. Au soir, le soleil, parvenu à la montagne du couchant, se retire de son œuvre brûlante ; mais le Pāṇḍava (Arjuna) ne se retira pas de l’œuvre d’écraser ses ennemis.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts nature’s inevitable cessation (the sun’s heat subsiding at sunset) with a warrior’s steadfast resolve: Arjuna, bound by kṣatriya-duty and protective purpose, does not abandon the task of subduing aggressors until it is accomplished.
During the battle in the Virāṭa episode, the scene becomes intensely blood-red—likened to the western sky at twilight—signaling the ferocity of combat. The narrator emphasizes that, unlike the sun which ‘retires’ at dusk, Arjuna continues relentlessly in enemy-crushing action.