अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
भनुर्मण्डलमेवास्य दृश्यते युधि भारत । सायकाश्रैव दृश्यन्ते निश्चरन्त: समन्ततः
bhānur-maṇḍalam evāsya dṛśyate yudhi bhārata | sāyakāś caiva dṛśyante niścarantaḥ samantataḥ ||
संजय बोले—हे भारत! युद्धभूमि में उसके केवल तेज का मंडल ही दिखाई देता था; और चारों दिशाओं में केवल बाण ही निकलते हुए दिखते थे।
संजय उवाच
The verse highlights how overwhelming martial energy can dominate perception in war: the warrior’s presence is conveyed not by detailed form but by a halo-like radiance and the relentless outward flow of arrows. Ethically, it underscores the epic’s tension between admiration for prowess and the grim, impersonal force of battlefield violence.
Sañjaya describes a combatant in such fierce action that observers can scarcely discern his body; they see only a sun-like circle of brilliance around him, while arrows continuously shoot out in every direction, indicating intense, all-sided engagement in the fight.