Shloka 25

Devanagari script

दुर्निरीक्ष्यो हि भूतानां तेजसा भ्यधिकं॑ बभौ । आदित्य इव मध्याह्ले सहस्रकिरणावृत:,अब वह उत्तम ध्वज सहस्रों किरणोंसे आवृत मध्याह्नकालके सूर्यकी भाँति अपने तेजसे अधिक प्रकाशित होने लगा। प्राणियोंक लिये उसकी ओर देखना कठिन हो गया। वह वृक्षोंमें कहीं अटकता नहीं था, अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंद्वारा कटता नहीं था। राजन्‌! वह दिव्य और श्रेष्ठ ध्वज इस लोकके मनुष्योंको दृष्टिगोचर मात्र होता था

Transliteration

durnirīkṣyo hi bhūtānāṃ tejasā bhyadhikaṃ babhau | āditya iva madhyāhne sahasrakiraṇāvṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: То знамя стало трудно выносить взором живым существам, ибо оно пылало сиянием, превосходящим всё прочее, — словно полуденное солнце, окружённое тысячью лучей.

Word by Word

दुर्निरीक्ष्यःhard to look at

हिindeed/for

भूतानाम्of creatures/beings

तेजसाby/with splendor

अभ्यधिकम्exceedingly/more

बभौshone/appeared

आदित्यःthe Sun

इवlike/as

मध्याह्नेat midday

सहस्रकिरणावृतःcovered with a thousand rays

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Āditya (the Sun)

dhvaja (banner/standard) (implied by context)

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?

Extraordinary power and glory—especially when presented as divinely sanctioned—can overwhelm ordinary beings; therefore, such splendor in kingship should be accompanied by humility and ethical restraint, since it naturally compels reverence and fear.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a supremely radiant standard (dhvaja) whose brilliance makes it difficult to behold, comparing it to the midday sun surrounded by countless rays—an image meant to convey the exceptional, almost otherworldly majesty associated with the scene and its royal context.