दशशताक्षककुब्दरिनि:सृतः किरणकेसरभासुरपिज्जर: । तिमिरवारणयूथविदारण: समुदियादुदयाचलकेसरी,उदयाचलके शिखरपर चन्द्रमारूपी सिंहका उदय हुआ, जो पूर्व दिशारूपी कन्दरासे निकला था। वह किरणरूपी केसरोंसे प्रकाशित एवं पिंगलवर्णका था और अन्धकाररूपी गजराजोंके यूथको विदीर्ण कर रहा था
daśaśatākṣaka-kubdari-niḥsṛtaḥ kiraṇa-keśara-bhāsura-piṅgaraḥ | timira-vāraṇa-yūtha-vidāraṇaḥ samudiyād udayācala-kesarī ||
दशशताक्षककन्दरान्निःसृतः किरणकेसरभासुरपिञ्जरः। तिमिरवारणयूथविदारणः समुदियादुदयाचलकेसरी॥
संजय उवाच
Even amid the violence and moral strain of battle, the poem invokes the moon’s rise as a symbol of renewed discernment: light (clarity, steadiness, right understanding) can break through darkness (fear, delusion, despair).
Sañjaya describes the moon rising over the eastern mountain, poetically likening it to a lion emerging from a cave, its rays as a mane, and the darkness as elephant herds being scattered—marking the night’s end and a shift in the battlefield’s atmosphere.