Shloka 15

Devanagari script

तद्‌ बाणधारावृतमन्तरिक्षं तिर्यग्गताभि: समरे रराज । सुवर्णपुडुखज्वलितप्र भाभि- विचित्रपुष्पाभिरिव स्रजाभि:,समरांगणमें बाणधाराओंसे भरा हुआ आकाश उन बाणोंके सुवर्णमय पंखोंकी तिरछी दिशामें फैलनेवाली देदीप्यमान प्रभाओंसे ऐसी शोभा पा रहा था, मानो वह विचित्र पुष्पोंवाली मनोहर मालाओंसे अलंकृत हो

Transliteration

tad bāṇadhārāvṛtam antarīkṣaṃ tiryaggatābhiḥ samare rarāja | suvarṇapuṅkhajvalitaprabhābhiḥ vicitrapuṣpābhir iva srajābhiḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。その戦場では、矢の奔流に覆われた大空が、なおも燦然と輝いていた。矢の黄金の羽根から斜めに放たれる灼ける光が広がり、天蓋はまるで色とりどりの花の花環で飾られたかのように見えた。

Word by Word

तत्that

बाणधारा-आवृतम्covered by streams of arrows

अन्तरिक्षम्the sky/space

तिर्यक्-गताभिःby (those) going obliquely

समरेin battle

रराजshone/was splendid

सुवर्ण-पुडुख-ज्वलित-प्रभाभिःby the radiances blazing from golden feathers

विचित्र-पुष्पाभिःby (those) with variegated flowers

इवas if/like

स्रजाभिःby garlands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

antarīkṣa (sky)

bāṇa (arrows)

suvarṇa-puṅkha (golden fletchings)

sraj (garlands)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse offers no direct injunction, but it implicitly contrasts beauty and destruction: the battlefield can appear aesthetically magnificent, yet that splendor is born from lethal intent. It invites reflection on how perception can mask the ethical gravity of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates the intensity of the fighting: volleys of arrows fill the air so densely that the sky seems covered. The glint and radiance from their golden fletchings create a visual effect likened to garlands of multicolored flowers spread across the sky.