Shloka 343

Devanagari script

तमसा संवृते लोके नादृश्यन्त महाहवे । नरेश्वर! उस महासमरमें सब लोग अन्धकारसे आच्छन्न हो गये थे। पाण्डवोंकी सारी अक्षौहिणी सेना और सव्यसाची अर्जुन भी नहीं दिखायी देते थे

Transliteration

tamasa saṃvṛte loke nādṛśyanta mahāhave | nareśvara! asmin mahāsamare sarve janā andhakāreṇācchannā abhavan | pāṇḍavānāṃ sarvākṣauhiṇī senā ca savyasācī arjunaś ca na dṛśyete sma |

Translation

ສັນຊະຍາກ່າວວ່າ: «ຂ້າແຕ່ພະຣາຊາ, ເມື່ອໂລກຖືກຄວາມມືດປົກຄຸມ ໃນສົງຄາມໃຫຍ່ນັ້ນ ບໍ່ອາດເຫັນສິ່ງໃດໄດ້ເລີຍ. ໃນການປະທະອັນກວ້າງໃຫຍ່ນັ້ນ ທຸກຄົນຖືກຄວາມມືດກົດທັບ; ແມ່ນແຕ່ກອງທັບອັກເສົາຫິນີທັງໝົດຂອງປານດະວະ ແລະ ອາຣຊຸນ—ຜູ້ມີນາມວ່າ ສະວະຍະສາຈີ—ກໍບໍ່ປາກົດໃຫ້ເຫັນ».

Word by Word

तमसाby darkness

संवृतेwhen (it was) covered/veiled

लोकेin the world/region

नnot

अदृश्यन्तwere not seen/appeared not

महाहवेin the great battle

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by nareśvara)

Pāṇḍavas

Arjuna (Savyasācī)

Akṣauhiṇī (army division)

Mahāhava/Mahāsamara (the great battle)

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 highlights how the conditions of war can obscure clarity—literally through darkness and symbolically through confusion—suggesting that when discernment is eclipsed, ethical judgment becomes harder and the battlefield turns into a realm where even the foremost heroes cannot be ‘seen’ or properly known.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that a sudden darkness has covered the battlefield so completely that warriors cannot see one another; even Arjuna and the full Pāṇḍava force are not visible amid the gloom.