Shloka 47

Devanagari script

परिवेषमनुप्राप्तो यथा स्याद्‌ व्योम्नि चन्द्रमा: । यथैव चासितो मेघ: शक्रचापेन शोभित:,राजन! कण्ठमें पड़े हुए उस महाधनुषसे युक्त नकुल ऐसी शोभा पाने लगे, मानो आकाशमें चन्द्रमापर घेरा पड़ गया हो अथवा कोई श्याम मेघ इन्द्रधनुषसे सुशोभित हो रहा हो

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

pariveṣam anuprāpto yathā syād vyomni candramāḥ |

yathaiva cāsito meghaḥ śakracāpena śobhitaḥ ||

Translation

राजन्! कण्ठ में पड़े हुए उस महाधनुष से युक्त नकुल ऐसी शोभा पाने लगे, मानो आकाश में चन्द्रमा पर परिवेष (घेरा) पड़ गया हो अथवा कोई श्याम मेघ इन्द्रधनुष से सुशोभित हो रहा हो।

Word by Word

परिवेषम्halo (around the moon)

अनुप्राप्तःhaving attained/come upon

यथाas/just as

स्यात्would be/might be

व्योम्निin the sky

चन्द्रमाःthe moon

यथाas/just as

एवindeed/just

चand

असितःdark/black

मेघःcloud

शक्रचापेनby Indra's bow (rainbow)

शोभितःadorned/beautified

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Rājan (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied addressee)

Nakula

Candramā (the Moon)

Śakra (Indra)

Śakracāpa (Indra’s bow / rainbow)

Pariveṣa (lunar halo)

Megha (cloud)

Mahādhanuṣ (great bow, implied by context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse primarily heightens the ethical-narrative mood of the war by portraying a warrior’s splendor through cosmic imagery: even amid violence, the epic frames kṣatriya duty and martial readiness with a sense of order, omen, and grandeur—suggesting that disciplined valor can appear ‘radiant’ when aligned with one’s role.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Nakula, with a great bow positioned at his neck/shoulder, appears exceptionally resplendent. To convey this, he uses two similes: the moon encircled by a halo and a dark cloud beautified by a rainbow.