Shloka 20
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 29 — Arjuna’s defeat of Vṛṣaka–Acalā and the neutralization of Śakuni’s māyā
ज्वलनार्केन्दुवर्णाभा पावकोज्ज्वलपल्लवा । तया पद्मपलाशिन्या वातकम्पितपत्रया
jvalanārkenduvārṇābhā pāvakojjvalapallavā | tayā padmapalāśinyā vātakampitapatrayā
Sañjaya said: It appeared in hues like blazing fire, the sun, and the moon, with shoots glowing as if kindled by flame. It was like a lotus-leaf-bearing creeper, its leaves trembling in the wind—an image of radiant, living energy amid the harshness of war, where even nature’s beauty seems charged with fiery power.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses luminous natural imagery—fire, sun, moon, wind-trembled leaves—to convey how overwhelming power can appear beautiful yet terrifying. In the ethical atmosphere of the war, such descriptions remind the listener that splendor and destruction can coexist, urging discernment and humility before forces unleashed by human conflict.
Sañjaya is describing a radiant, flame-like appearance—likened to blazing celestial lights and to a lotus-leafed plant whose leaves quiver in the wind—setting a vivid scene of awe and intensity within the Drona Parva battle narration.