Shloka 17
भीष्मवधोपाय-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into the means to overcome Bhīṣma) | Chapter 103
मण्डलीकृतमेवास्य धनु: पश्याम भारत । सूर्यममण्डलसंकाशं दहतस्तव वाहिनीम्,भारत! आपकी सेनाको भस्म करते हुए उस अभिमन्युके धनुषको हम सदा सूर्यमण्डलके सदृश मण्डलाकार हुआ ही देखते थे फिर अत्यन्त उतावलीके साथ रोषावेशमें भरे हुए उस महाबली राक्षसने कुपित हो उन महामनस्वी पाँचों भाइयोंके घोड़ों और सारथियोंको भी मार डाला
sañjaya uvāca |
maṇḍalīkṛtam evāsya dhanuḥ paśyāmi bhārata |
sūryamaṇḍalasaṅkāśaṃ dahatas tava vāhinīm ||
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, I see his bow as if continually formed into a circle—radiant like the orb of the sun—while it burns through your army.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial skill, when driven by battle-duty (kṣatriya-dharma), can appear awe-inspiring and ‘sun-like’—yet it is ethically double-edged, because the same brilliance is described as ‘burning’ an army, reminding the listener that power and violence carry grave consequences.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the warrior’s bow is moving so swiftly it looks like a circular disk, shining like the sun, as he cuts down and ‘scorches’ the opposing forces in the thick of the Kurukṣetra battle.