Shloka 5
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
नीलवैदूर्यसदृश इन्द्रनीलनिभ: क्वचित् | मयूरग्रीववर्णा भो मुक्ताहारनिभ: क्वचित्,कहीं नीलवैदूर्य, कहीं इन्द्रनीलमणि, कहीं मोरकी ग्रीवाके सदृश वर्ण और कहीं मोतीके हारकी-सी कान्ति दृष्टिगोचर होती थी
nīlavaidūryasadṛśa indrānīlanibhaḥ kvacit | mayūragrīvavarṇā bho muktāhāranibhaḥ kvacit |
ビーシュマは言った。「ある時は青きヴァイドゥーリヤ（猫眼石）のように、ある時はインドラニーラ（サファイア）のように輝いた。時に孔雀の喉の色を帯び、時に真珠の首飾りのように光り映えた。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily uses jewel-and-nature similes to convey extraordinary splendour and auspiciousness; ethically, it reflects the epic’s tendency to point from sensory beauty to the recognition of higher, refined qualities (tejas, śrī) that inspire reverence and self-restraint rather than greed.
Bhīṣma is describing a wondrous appearance whose colour and sheen shift in perception—now like blue vaidūrya, now like sapphire, now like a peacock’s neck, now like a pearl necklace—emphasizing its striking, many-faceted radiance.