Mahabharata 7.136.303 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 136, Shloka 303
Chapter 136: Pandava Counter-Encirclement and the Vāyavya-Astra Disruption
गच्छत्यस्तं दिनकरे दीप्यमाना इवांशव: । वे नाराच इस पृथ्वीमें प्रवेश करते समय वैसी ही शोभा पा रहे थे, जैसे सूर्यके डूबते समय उनकी चमकीली किरणें प्रकाशित होती हैं
gacchaty astaṃ dinakare dīpyamānā ivāṃśavaḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—दिनकरेऽस्तं गच्छति, ते नाराचा मेदिनीं प्रविशन्तो दीप्यमाना इवांशवः, अस्तकाले सूर्यकिरणाः इव शोभां प्राप्नुवन्।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a sunset simile to show how war can appear outwardly splendid while remaining inwardly destructive; it invites reflection on impermanence and the ethical cost of violence even amid heroic display.
Sañjaya describes arrows (nārācas) striking and sinking into the ground, their gleam compared to the sun’s rays at the moment of sunset, intensifying the scene’s visual drama.
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