Shloka 18

Devanagari script

सवालव्यजर्नर्दिव्यर्दिविस्थैरप्सरोगणै: । शक्रसूर्यकराब्जा भ्यां प्रमार्जितमुखावुभौ

Transliteration

sa vālavya-janair divyair divi-sthair apsaro-gaṇaiḥ | śakra-sūrya-karābjābhyāṃ pramārjita-mukhāv ubhau ||

Translation

ସଞ୍ଜୟ କହିଲେ—ତାପରେ ଦିବିସ୍ଥ ଅପ୍ସରାଗଣ ଓ ଦିବ୍ୟ ପରିଚାରକମାନଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା ସମ୍ମାନିତ ସେ ଦୁଇଜଣଙ୍କ ମୁଖ, ଯେନ ଇନ୍ଦ୍ର ଓ ସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟଙ୍କ ପଦ୍ମସଦୃଶ କରଦ୍ୱୟରେ ମୃଦୁଭାବେ ପୋଛି ସତେଜ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା।

Word by Word

सवालव्यजनैःwith white fans

दिव्यैःdivine

दिविस्थैःdwelling in heaven

अप्सरोगणैःby groups of Apsarases

शक्रसूर्यकराब्जाभ्याम्with the lotus-hands of Indra and the Sun

प्रमार्जितमुखौwhose faces were wiped/cleansed

उभौboth

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Apsarases

Śakra (Indra)

Sūrya (Sun-god)

Heaven (divi)

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 conveys that the deaths and sufferings of great warriors are not treated as mere brutality; the epic frames them within a moral-cosmic horizon where valor and the gravity of action are acknowledged by divine witnesses, reminding the listener that karma and honor operate even amid chaos.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a scene in which two figures (ubhau) are attended by celestial beings—Apsarases and heavenly attendants—who symbolically cleanse and refresh their faces, poetically likened to being wiped by the lotus-like hands of Indra and the Sun.