Shloka 3
Jayadratha-rakṣā: Conch Signals and Encirclement of Arjuna
Chapter 79
कथमिन्दीवरश्यामं सुदष्ट्रं चारुलोचनम् । मुखं ते दृश्यते वत्स गुण्ठितं रणरेणुना,“वत्स! नील कमलके समान श्याम, सुन्दर दन्तपंक्तियोंसे सुशोभित, मनोहर नेत्रोंवाला तुम्हारा मुख आज युद्धकी धूलसे आच्छादित होकर कैसा दिखायी देता होगा?
katham indīvaraśyāmaṃ sudaṣṭraṃ cārulocanam | mukhaṃ te dṛśyate vatsa guṇṭhitaṃ raṇareṇunā ||
サンジャヤは言った。「わが子よ、今日おまえの顔はどのように見えるのか――青蓮のごとく深く黒く、歯並びは美しく、眼差しは愛らしいその顔が、いまや戦塵に覆われているとは。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human cost of war: even a noble, beautiful, and worthy person is physically and symbolically obscured by the dust of violence. It invites ethical reflection on how conflict covers innate dignity and tenderness beneath harsh necessity.
Sañjaya addresses someone affectionately as “vatsa,” picturing that person’s lotus-dark, handsome face now covered with battlefield dust. The moment functions as a vivid, emotional description amid the Drona Parva’s combat narrative.