Shloka 456
नारायणास्त्र-शमनं द्रौणि-प्रहारश्च
Pacification of the Nārāyaṇāstra and Drauni’s Renewed Assault
रजसा तमसा व्याप्ता द्योतिता: प्रभया पुन: । धूल और अन्धकारसे व्याप्त आकाश, पृथ्वी, दिशा और विदिशाएँ प्रदीपोंकी प्रभासे पुनः प्रकाशित हो उठी थीं
rajasā tamasā vyāptā dyotitāḥ prabhayā punaḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—रजसा तमसा च व्याप्तं पुनः प्रभया द्योतितम्। प्रदीपप्रभया द्यौः पृथिवी दिशश्च विदिशश्च प्रकाशिता इवाभवन्। संग्रामव्यामोहमध्येऽपि कदाचित् स्पष्टीभावः पुनरागच्छतीति तद् दृश्यं बभूव।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the contrast of dust-and-darkness versus renewed illumination to suggest that confusion and moral-mental obscuration (tamas/rajas) can be temporarily dispelled, allowing perception and discernment to return—even amid the turmoil of war.
Sañjaya describes a battlefield scene where dust and darkness had spread everywhere, but then light appears again, making the surroundings—sky, earth, and directions—visible and bright, as though lit by lamps.