Shloka 16
Chapter 51: Saṃdhyākāla-saṃhāra
Evening Withdrawal after Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
तस्य लाघवमार्गस्थमलातसदृश प्र भम् । दिश: पर्यपतच्चापं गाण्डीवमिव घोषवत्
tasya lāghavamārgastham alātacakrasadṛśaprabham | diśaḥ paryapatac cāpaṃ gāṇḍīvam iva ghoṣavat ||
संजय बोले—उसका धनुष हाथों की फुर्ती के मार्ग पर चलते हुए अलातचक्र के समान मंडलाकार प्रकाशमान हो उठा। गाण्डीव के समान घोष करता हुआ वह चाप चारों दिशाओं में घूमता-सा प्रतीत होता था।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined skill and focused energy in battle: agility guided by training turns a weapon into an all-encompassing force, suggesting that power in war is ethically weighty and must be governed by kṣatriya-dharma rather than mere rage.
Sañjaya describes a warrior’s bow being whirled and drawn so swiftly that it appears as a circular blaze like a spinning firebrand, and it roars like Gāṇḍīva, seeming to sweep across all directions as the fighting intensifies.