Shloka 9

Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)

Devanagari script

जैसे उदित हुए सूर्य समस्त भुवनोंमें अपनी किरणोंका विस्तार करते हैं, उसी प्रकार भीमसेन उन हाथियोंपर बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए शोभा पा रहे थे ।। ते भीमबाणाभिहता: संस्यूता विबभुर्गजा: । गभस्तिभिरिवार्कस्य व्योम्नि नानाबलाहका:,वे भीमके बाणोंसे मारे जाकर परस्पर सटे हुए हाथी आकाशमें सूर्यकी किरणोंसे गुँथे हुए नाना प्रकारके मेघोंकी भाँति शोभा पा रहे थे

Transliteration

te bhīmabāṇābhihatāḥ saṃsyūtā vibabhur gajāḥ | gabhastibhir ivārkasya vyomni nānābalāhakāḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。ビーマの矢に射抜かれ、互いに押し合うように密集した象たちは、天空に浮かぶさまざまな雲が太陽の光条に織り込まれて輝くかのように、きらめいて見えた。

Word by Word

तेthose

भीम-बाण-अभिहताःstruck by Bhima's arrows

संस्यूताःclosely joined/stitched together

विबभुःshone/appeared splendid

गजाःelephants

गभस्तिभिःwith rays

इवlike/as

अर्कस्यof the sun

व्योम्निin the sky

नाना-बलाहकाःvariegated clouds

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

gajāḥ (elephants)

arka (the sun)

gabhasti (sunrays)

balāhaka (clouds)

vyoman (sky)

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 highlights the paradox of righteous warfare: martial excellence can appear ‘splendid’ in poetic vision, yet that beauty is born from injury and death. It invites reflection on kṣatriya-dharma—courage and duty in battle—while not concealing the grim human (and animal) cost.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Bhīma showering arrows upon enemy elephants. The elephants, clustered together and pierced by arrows, are compared to clouds in the sky threaded with sunlight—an image that conveys both the density of the elephant formation and the striking visual effect amid the battlefield.