Shloka 42

Devanagari script

दीप्यमाना: प्रदीपाश्च॒ रथवारणवाजिषु

Transliteration

dīpyamānāḥ pradīpāś ca rathavāraṇavājiṣu

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Blazing and brightly lit lamps were seen upon the chariots, elephants, and horses,” suggesting the battlefield’s night-time intensity—warfare continuing under illumination, heightening both the spectacle of valor and the moral weight of violence carried on without pause.

Word by Word

• दीप्यमानाः: blazing, shining
• दीप्यमानाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीप्यमान (√दीप्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रदीपाः: lamps, torches
• प्रदीपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रदीप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• रथ-वारण-वाजिषु: on/in chariots, elephants, and horses
• रथ-वारण-वाजिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ + वारण + वाजि
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• lamps/lights (pradīpāḥ)
• chariots (ratha)
• elephants (vāraṇa)
• horses (vāji)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how war’s momentum can persist even into the night, illuminated by artificial lights—an image that implicitly intensifies the ethical gravity of continued killing and the relentless drive of combatants despite darkness and fatigue.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene: lamps are burning on or among the war-machines and mounts—chariots, elephants, and horses—indicating organized night-time movement or fighting and enhancing the vividness of the ongoing conflict.