Shloka 1
Aśvatthāmā’s Lamentation, Vow of Retaliation, and the Manifestation of the Nārāyaṇāstra (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६६)
भीसस्नआ तन (2) आमने चतुःषष्ट्याधेकशततमो< ध्याय: दोनों सेनाओंका घमासान बुद्ध और दुध और दुर्योधनका द्रोणाचार्यकी रक्षाके लिये [को आदेश संजय उवाच प्रकाशिते तदा लोके रजसा तमसा<<वृते । समाजग्मुरथो वीरा: परस्परवधैषिण:,संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! उस समय धूल और अन्धकारसे ढकी हुई रणभूमिमें इस प्रकार उजेला होनेपर एक-दूसरेके वधकी इच्छावाले वीर सैनिक आपसमें भिड़ गये
sañjaya uvāca | prakāśite tadā loke rajasā tamasā ca vṛte | samājagmur atho vīrāḥ paraspara-vadhaiṣiṇaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: “O King, at that time, when the battlefield—shrouded in dust and darkness—became momentarily lit, the heroic warriors, intent on one another’s destruction, surged together and closed in for mutual slaughter.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war amplifies rajas (agitation) and tamas (darkness/confusion): even when there is a flash of clarity (“illumination”), the prevailing impulse becomes mutual destruction. Ethically, it frames the battlefield as a space where discernment is easily eclipsed and where intention (vadhaiṣiṇaḥ—desire to kill) drives action.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhritarashtra that, amid dust and darkness on the battlefield, a momentary brightening occurs and the warriors from both sides converge, clashing with the aim of killing one another.