Shloka 4

Sauptika-parva Adhyāya 13 — Bhīmasena’s Pursuit of Drauṇi and the Release of a Divine Astra

Devanagari script

विश्वकर्मकृता दिव्या रत्नधातुविभूषिता । उच्छितेव रथे माया ध्वजयष्टिरदृश्यत,उस रथपर विश्वकर्माद्वारा निर्मित तथा रत्नमय धातुओंसे विभूषित दिव्य ध्वजा दिखायी दे रही थी, जो ऊँचे उठी हुई मायाके समान प्रतीत होती थी

Transliteration

viśvakarmakṛtā divyā ratnadhātuvibhūṣitā | ucchriteva rathe māyā dhvajayaṣṭir adṛśyata ||

Translation

विश्वकर्मकृता दिव्या रत्नधातुविभूषिता। उच्छ्रितेव रथे माया ध्वजयष्टिरदृश्यत॥

Word by Word

विश्वकर्मकृताmade by Viśvakarman

दिव्याdivine

रत्नधातुविभूषिताadorned with jewel-metals

उच्छिताraised up, lofty

इवas if, like

रथेon/in the chariot

मायाillusion, magical appearance

ध्वजयष्टिःthe flagstaff (banner-pole)

अदृश्यतwas seen, appeared

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Viśvakarman

ratha (chariot)

dhvajayaṣṭi (flagstaff/banner-pole)

ratnadhātu (jewel-like metals)

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?

The verse juxtaposes divine splendor with a war-torn setting, suggesting that outward magnificence (royal and celestial signs) can appear even amid moral collapse and violence; it invites reflection on how power and spectacle may mask or coexist with suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a chariot bearing a lofty, celestial flagstaff crafted by Viśvakarman and ornamented with precious metals, emphasizing its extraordinary, almost illusion-like appearance as a striking visual detail in the Sauptika Parva.