Shloka 21

Devanagari script

यथा सविद्युतो मेघा नदन्‍तो जलदागमे । तथा रेजुर्महाराज मिश्रिता रणमूर्थनि,महाराज! जैसे वर्षाकालमें गर्जते हुए विद्युत्सहित मेघ सुशोभित होते हैं, उसी प्रकार युद्धके मुहानेपर परस्पर मिले हुए वे घोड़े शोभा पाते थे

Transliteration

yathā savidyuto meghā nadanto jaladāgame | tathā rejur mahārāja miśritā raṇamūrdhani ||

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。「大王よ、雨季の到来に際して、雷鳴とともに稲妻を帯びた雲が輝き映えるように、戦の最前面で入り交じったあの馬たちもまた、まばゆく壮観であった。」

Word by Word

यथाjust as

सविद्युतःwith lightning

मेघाःclouds

नदन्तःthundering/roaring

जलदागमेat the coming of the rain-clouds (rainy season)

तथाso/thus

रेजुःshone/splendidly appeared

महाराजO great king

मिश्रिताःmingled/intermixed

रणमूर्धनिat the forefront/head of battle

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Mahārāja (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

meghāḥ (clouds)

vidyut (lightning)

aśvāḥ (horses)

raṇa (battlefield)

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 primarily offers poetic narration rather than direct moral instruction, yet it implicitly underscores how war’s spectacle can resemble nature’s awe-inspiring power—beautiful and fearsome at once—inviting reflection on the grave, charged atmosphere that precedes violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battle-front to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: horses clustered together at the mouth/forefront of combat look resplendent, compared to thunderclouds lit by lightning at the onset of the rains.