Mahabharata 7.79.3 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 79, Shloka 3
Jayadratha-rakṣā: Conch Signals and Encirclement of Arjuna
Chapter 79
कथमिन्दीवरश्यामं सुदष्ट्रं चारुलोचनम् । मुखं ते दृश्यते वत्स गुण्ठितं रणरेणुना
katham indīvaraśyāmaṃ sudaṣṭraṃ cārulocanam | mukhaṃ te dṛśyate vatsa guṇṭhitaṃ raṇareṇunā ||
ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ವತ್ಸ! ನೀಲಕಮಲದಂತೆ ಶ್ಯಾಮವರ್ಣ, ಸುಂದರ ದಂತಪಂಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಶೋಭಿತ, ಮನೋಹರ ನೇತ್ರಗಳಿರುವ ನಿನ್ನ ಮುಖ ಇಂದು ಯುದ್ಧಧೂಳಿನಿಂದ ಮುಚ್ಚಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಾಣುತ್ತಿದೆಯೋ?
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.
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