Shloka 3236

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

निशायां प्रत्यदृश्यन्त मेघा इव सविद्युत: । वहाँ रात्रिमें सुवर्णभपूषित हाथी और रथ बिजलीसहित मेघोंके समान दिखायी दे रहे थे

Transliteration

niśāyāṁ pratyadṛśyanta meghā iva savidyutaḥ |

Translation

సంజయుడు పలికెను—రాత్రివేళ వారు మెరుపులతో కూడిన మేఘాల్లా కనిపించారు; స్వర్ణాభరణాలతో అలంకరించిన ఏనుగులు మరియు రథాలు చీకటిలో మెరుస్తూ నిలిచాయి.

Word by Word

निशायाम्in the night

प्रत्यदृश्यन्तappeared, were seen

मेघाःclouds

इवlike, as if

सविद्युतःwith lightning

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

night (niśā)

clouds (megha)

lightning (vidyut)

elephants (hastin) [implied by context]

chariots (ratha) [implied by context]

gold ornaments (suvarṇa-bhūṣaṇa) [implied by context]

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how outward brilliance in war—gold, power, and spectacle—can resemble lightning in storm-clouds: dazzling yet bound to danger. It implicitly cautions that martial grandeur does not remove the night-like moral and human darkness that accompanies violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a night scene on the battlefield where the forces, especially gold-adorned elephants and chariots, are visible in flashes and gleams, appearing like storm-clouds lit by lightning—an image that intensifies the atmosphere of nocturnal combat.