Shloka 26
Adhyāya 152: Kaurava-sainyavibhāgaḥ
Division and Standardization of the Kaurava Host
चित्राभरणवर्मोर्मि: शस्त्रनिर्मलफेनवान् । प्रासादमालाद्रविवृतो रथ्यापणमहाह्नद:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | citrābharaṇa-varmormiḥ śastra-nirmala-phenavān | prāsāda-mālā-dravi-vṛto rathyāpaṇa-mahā-hradaḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「ドゥルヨーダナ王の周りの都の光景は、月の出に沸き立つ大海のようであった。動く群衆は渦潮のごとく、戦車・象・馬はその中の魚のように見えた。法螺貝の響きと戦鼓の打音はその雷鳴となり、蓄えられた財宝は宝玉の山に等しかった。武者たちの多彩な装身具と鎧は立ち上がる波のようで、磨き上げられた武器の光は澄んだ泡沫のようであった。宮殿の列は岸辺の山々に似、街路に並ぶ店々は洞窟のように見えた—戦の前夜、世の栄華が勢いを集めるさまを描く像であり、眩くも、その奔流には不吉な影が差していた。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how collective excitement, wealth, and military display can swell like an ocean—dazzling in appearance yet carrying an ominous force. It implicitly cautions that power and splendor, when yoked to impending conflict, can intoxicate a polity and obscure ethical restraint.
Vaiśampāyana depicts the scene around Duryodhana and the Kaurava center as a grand, crowded, militarized spectacle. Using an ocean simile, he maps people, animals, instruments, weapons, and buildings onto waves, whirlpools, thunder, foam, and shore-mountains, conveying the surge of preparations and public movement as war approaches.