Shloka 553
दृष्टवन्त: सम समरे शरौघैरभिसंवृतम् । समरांगणमें बाणोंके समूहसे घिरे हुए घटोत्कचको, उसके घोड़ोंको, रथको तथा ध्वजको भी कोई नहीं देख पाते थे
dṛṣṭavantaḥ sama samare śaraughair abhisamvṛtam | samarāṅgaṇe bāṇānāṃ samūhena ghire hue ghaṭotkacaṃ, tasya aśvān, rathaṃ tathā dhvajaṃ ca api ko'pi na paśyati sma |
सञ्जय उवाच—समसमरे शरौघैरभिसंवृतं घटोत्कचं दृष्टवन्तः। शरसमूहैः समन्तात् आच्छन्नत्वात् न केचन तं ददृशुः—न तस्य अश्वान्, न रथं, न ध्वजं च।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the extremity of violence can eclipse clarity and recognition: when conflict becomes all-consuming, even the ordinary markers of identity and order (warrior, horses, chariot, banner) are swallowed by chaos. Ethically, it cautions that war’s intensity can overwhelm discernment and humane restraint.
Sañjaya describes Ghaṭotkaca in the thick of combat, so densely showered and encircled by arrows that observers cannot distinguish him or even his chariot’s components—horses, chariot, and banner—within the mass of missiles.