Shloka 47

Devanagari script

दशशताक्षककुब्दरिनि:सृतः किरणकेसरभासुरपिज्जर: । तिमिरवारणयूथविदारण: समुदियादुदयाचलकेसरी,उदयाचलके शिखरपर चन्द्रमारूपी सिंहका उदय हुआ, जो पूर्व दिशारूपी कन्दरासे निकला था। वह किरणरूपी केसरोंसे प्रकाशित एवं पिंगलवर्णका था और अन्धकाररूपी गजराजोंके यूथको विदीर्ण कर रहा था

Transliteration

daśaśatākṣaka-kubdari-niḥsṛtaḥ kiraṇa-keśara-bhāsura-piṅgaraḥ | timira-vāraṇa-yūtha-vidāraṇaḥ samudiyād udayācala-kesarī ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: From the cave of the eastern quarter there rose the lion of the Udaya mountain—the moon—tawny and radiant with rays like a mane, tearing apart the herds of elephant-like darkness. In the midst of war’s dread, this image signals the return of clarity and hope, as light breaks the grip of confusion and fear.

Word by Word

• दशशताक्षककुब्दरिनिःसृतः: having emerged from the cave with a hundred-and-ten-eyed peak
• दशशताक्षककुब्दरिनिःसृतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दशशत-अक्ष-ककुद्-दरि-निःसृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• किरणकेसरभासुरपिज्जरः: tawny, radiant with ray-like mane
• किरणकेसरभासुरपिज्जरः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: किरण-केसर-भासुर-पिज्जर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तिमिरवारणयूथविदारणः: rending the herds of darkness-elephants
• तिमिरवारणयूथविदारणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तिमिर-वारण-यूथ-विदारण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• समुदियात्: may rise up / should arise
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + उद् + इ (इण्)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• उदयाचलकेसरी: the lion of the eastern mountain (i.e., the sun)
• उदयाचलकेसरी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदय-अचल-केसरी
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Moon (as udayācala-kesarī)
• Udayācala (eastern mountain)
• East (as Indra’s quarter, implied by daśaśatākṣaka)
• Darkness (timira, personified)
• Elephants (vāraṇa, metaphorical)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid the violence and moral strain of battle, the poem invokes the moon’s rise as a symbol of renewed discernment: light (clarity, steadiness, right understanding) can break through darkness (fear, delusion, despair).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the moon rising over the eastern mountain, poetically likening it to a lion emerging from a cave, its rays as a mane, and the darkness as elephant herds being scattered—marking the night’s end and a shift in the battlefield’s atmosphere.