Mahabharata 7.138.36 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 138, Shloka 36
अन्धकार-रजःसंमूढे रणाङ्गणे प्रदीपप्रकाशः | Illumination of the Army in Darkness and Dust
स नेमिघोषस्तनितश्चापविद्युच्छराम्बुभि: । भीमसेनमहामेघ: कर्णपर्वतमावृणोत्
sa nemighoṣa-stanitaś cāpa-vidyuc-chara-ambubhiḥ | bhīmasena-mahāmeghaḥ karṇa-parvatam āvṛṇot ||
രഥചക്രങ്ങളുടെ ഘോഷം തന്നെ ഗംഭീര ഇടിമുഴക്കമായും, വില്ല് മിന്നലുപോലെ തിളങ്ങിയും—ഭീമസേനൻ എന്ന മഹാമേഘം അമ്പുകളെന്ന ജലവർഷം ചൊരിഞ്ഞ് കർണൻ എന്ന പർവ്വതത്തെ മൂടി।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily conveys a war-ethic of kṣatriya prowess through vivid natural imagery: disciplined strength and relentless effort can temporarily eclipse even a formidable opponent. Ethically, it highlights how the battlefield tests endurance and resolve, where superiority is shown not by cruelty but by steadfast martial capability within the accepted rules of combat.
Sañjaya describes Bhīmasena advancing in his chariot with a thunderous wheel-roar; his bow flashes like lightning, and he releases such a dense shower of arrows that Karṇa is metaphorically ‘covered’ like a mountain hidden by a storm-cloud’s rain.
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