Shloka 42
आदीप्तमिव तत् सैन्यं शरैश्छिन्नतनुच्छदम् । आसीत् सुशोणितक्लिन्नं फुल्लाशोकवनं यथा,उस समय सारी सेना जलती हुई-सी दिखायी देती थी। बाणोंसे उसके कवच छित्न- भिन्न हो गये थे तथा वह खूनसे लथपथ हो खिले हुए अशोकवनके समान प्रतीत होती थी
ādīptam iva tat sainyaṃ śaraiś chinna-tanu-cchadam | āsīt suśoṇita-klinnaṃ phullāśoka-vanaṃ yathā ||
Sañjaya said: “That host appeared as though it were ablaze. Its bodily coverings—its armor and protective gear—had been torn and shredded by arrows; drenched in copious blood, it looked like a grove of aśoka trees in full bloom.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers no direct injunction but conveys an ethical reflection through imagery: war’s splendor is illusory—what seems ‘ablaze’ is actually a host torn by weapons and soaked in blood. The poetic comparison to a blossoming aśoka grove heightens the contrast between natural beauty and human-made devastation, prompting discernment about the true cost of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the appearance of the battlefield: the army looks as if it is burning; arrows have shredded its protective coverings (armor), and the troops are drenched in blood, creating a vivid, almost surreal scene likened to a flowering aśoka forest.