Shloka 13
Droṇavadha-saṃniveśaḥ — The Convergence Toward Droṇa’s Fall
Book 7, Chapter 164
सुवर्णपुड्खैरिषुभिराचितौ तौ व्यराजताम् । खटद्योतैरावृती राजन् प्रावषीव वनस्पती,राजन! सुवर्णमय पंखवाले बाणोंसे व्याप्त होकर वे दोनों योद्धा वर्षाकालमें जुगनुओंसे व्याप्त हुए दो वृक्षोंक समान सुशोभित हो रहे थे
suvarṇapuḍkhair iṣubhir ācitau tau vyarājatām | khaṭadyotair āvṛtī rājan prāvaṣīva vanaspatī ||
サञ्जयは言った。「王よ、金の羽を持つ矢に全身を覆われたその二人の戦士は、燦然と輝いていた。雨季に、無数の蛍に包まれた二本の樹のように。」この比喩は、戦の“凄まじい美”を示す。身体が貫かれてなお、勇気と不屈は光のように見えることがある—しかしその美は、暴力から生まれたものにほかならない。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a reflective contrast: the battlefield can appear outwardly radiant through poetic imagery, yet that radiance arises from wounds and weaponry. It invites discernment about the cost of war even when valor and martial excellence are praised within kṣatriya-dharma.
Sañjaya describes two opposing warriors in close combat who are so densely struck by arrows with golden fletchings that they look visually resplendent—likened to monsoon-season trees glittering with fireflies—conveying both intensity and spectacle of the fight.