Shloka 42
शल्यपरिघातः (Śalya Under Encirclement) — Mahābhārata, Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 12
दिशश्नल विमला जातास्तस्मिंस्तमसि नाशिते । पुरुषसिंह! उस समय इतना खून बहा कि उससे वहाँ छायी हुई सारी धूल बैठ गयी। उस धूलजनित अन्धकारका नाश होनेपर सम्पूर्ण दिशाएँ स्वच्छ हो गयीं ।। तथा प्रवृत्ते संग्रामे घोररूपे भयानके
diśaś ca nirmalā jātās tasmiṁs tamasi nāśite | puruṣasiṁha! tadā tāvat śoṇitaṁ prāvahat yathā tatra chāyitā sarvā rajo niṣaṇṇā | tad-rajojanitāndhakāra-nāśe samastā diśaḥ prasannā abhavan || tathā pravṛtte saṅgrāme ghorarūpe bhayānake ||
Sañjaya said: “O lion among men! When that darkness was dispelled, the directions became clear. So much blood flowed that the dust hanging over the field settled down; and when the dust-born gloom was destroyed, all quarters appeared bright again. Thus the battle raged on—terrible in form and fearful.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and existential horror of war: violence becomes so extreme that even nature’s visibility is altered—dust settles only because blood drenches the ground. The ‘clearing of the directions’ is not a triumphal image but an indictment of the battlefield’s excess, highlighting the ethical cost of unchecked conflict.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield during the Shalya Parva: a dust-darkened gloom had covered the field, but as immense bloodshed soaked the ground, the dust settled and the haze cleared, making the directions appear bright again. The battle continues in a terrifying, dreadful form.