Shloka 17
Chapter 7: Dvīpa–Varṣa–Meru-varṇana
Description of the Dvīpa, Varṣas, and Mount Meru
चन्द्रप्रभा श्वन्द्रवर्णा: पूर्णचन्द्रनिभानना: । चन्द्रशीतलगात्र्यश्न नृत्यगीतविशारदा:
candraprabhāḥ śveta-varṇāḥ pūrṇa-candra-nibhānanāḥ | candra-śītala-gātryaś ca nṛtya-gīta-viśāradāḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。「彼女らは月のごとき光を放ち、白く澄んだ肌をもち、顔は満月のように麗しい。四肢は月光のように涼やかに感じられ、舞と歌の芸に通じている。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it uses moon-imagery to portray refined beauty and artistic accomplishment. In the epic’s ethical atmosphere, it implicitly reminds the listener how sensory allure and cultivated pleasures can coexist with, and sometimes distract from, the grave duties and moral tensions of war.
Sañjaya is narrating and describing a group of women (implicitly celestial or exceptionally beautiful performers/attendants), emphasizing their moonlike radiance, coolness, and skill in dance and song, as part of the broader battlefield narration in Bhīṣma Parva.