Shloka 5

Devanagari script

उह्यमानमिवाकाशे विमान पाण्ड्रैर्हयै: । ध्वजं च पश्य कर्णस्य नागकक्षं महात्मन:,“इसपर भाँति-भाँतिकी पताकाएँ फहरा रही हैं तथा वह छोटी-छोटी घंटियोंवाली झालरसे अलंकृत है। ये सफेद घोड़े आकाशमें विमानके समान इस रथको लेकर मानो उड़े जा रहे हैं। महामनस्वी कर्णकी इस ध्वजाको तो देखो, जिसमें हाथीके रस्सेका चिह्न बना हुआ है

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | uhyamānam ivākāśe vimānaṃ pāṇḍrair hayaiḥ | dhvajaṃ ca paśya karṇasya nāgakakṣaṃ mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「見よ、象の胴締めの綱を紋として掲げる、あの大心のカルナの軍旗を。淡く白い馬に曳かれ、その戦車は天の乗り物のように空を運ばれ、まるで飛翔しているかのごとく見える。この光景は戦場の道義的緊張をいっそう高める——外なる華麗と武威は極みに達しながら、戦の破滅的な賭け金が万人にのしかかっているのだ。」

Word by Word

उह्यमानम्being carried/borne

इवas if/like

आकाशेin the sky

विमानम्aerial car; chariot like a flying vehicle

पाण्ड्रैःwith white/pale

हयैःhorses

ध्वजम्banner/standard

चand

पश्यsee! behold!

कर्णस्यof Karna

नागकक्षम्having the mark/emblem of an elephant-girth/elephant-rope (as its device)

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Karna

dhvaja (banner/standard)

ratha (chariot, implied)

pāṇḍra-haya (white horses)

vimāna (celestial craft, as simile)

nāgakakṣa (elephant-girth-rope emblem)

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 underscores how external grandeur—swift horses, a sky-like rush, and a striking banner—can magnify a warrior’s presence, yet it also implicitly contrasts spectacle with the grave ethical weight of war: power and pageantry do not lessen the moral consequences of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya, narrating the battlefield to Dhritarashtra, points out Karna’s chariot and especially his banner bearing the elephant-girth-rope emblem. He describes the chariot’s speed and majesty, likening it to a vimana moving through the sky.