Shloka 46

अध्याय २२ — अमर्याद-युद्धवर्णन

Unrestrained Battle Description and Śakuni’s Rear Assault

Devanagari script

मुहूर्तादिव संवृत्तं नीरजस्क॑ समन्ततः । वीरशोणितसिक्तायां भूमौ भरतसत्तम,भरतश्रेष्ठ! तदनन्तर दो ही घड़ीमें वीरोंके रक्तसे धरती सिंच उठी और सब ओरकी धूल बैठ जानेके कारण रणक्षेत्र निर्मल हो गया

Transliteration

muhūrtādiva saṃvṛttaṃ nīrajaskaṃ samantataḥ | vīraśoṇitasiktāyāṃ bhūmau bharatasattama ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Dalam seketika, seluruh medan perang seakan berubah—tanpa debu di segenap penjuru. Wahai yang terbaik dalam keturunan Bharata, bumi itu telah dibasahi dan disiram oleh darah para wira.”

Word by Word

मुहूर्तात्from a moment (after a short time)

इवas if / like

संवृत्तम्became / came to be

नीरजस्कम्dustless / free of dust

समन्ततःon all sides / everywhere

वीरशोणितसिक्तायाम्on (the ground) drenched with heroes' blood

भूमौon the earth / on the ground

भरतसत्तमO best of the Bharatas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bharata-sattama (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

battlefield (bhūmi)

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 the ethical gravity of war: even when framed as kṣatriya-dharma, the battlefield’s ‘clarity’ comes through bloodshed, reminding the listener that victory and duty are inseparable from human loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that within a short time the dust of battle settled everywhere because the ground was soaked with the blood of fallen warriors, making the field appear dustless and stark.