Shloka 5

अध्याय २२ — अमर्याद-युद्धवर्णन

Unrestrained Battle Description and Śakuni’s Rear Assault

Devanagari script

यथा सैन्येन रजसा समुद्धूतेन वाहिनी । प्रत्यदृश्यत संछन्ना तथा बाणैर्महात्मन:,जैसे सैनिकोंद्वारा उड़ायी हुई धूलसे सारी सेना आच्छादित हो गयी थी, उसी प्रकार वह महामनस्वी दुर्योधनके बाणोंसे ढकी दिखायी देती थी

Transliteration

yathā sainyena rajasā samuddhūtena vāhinī | pratyadṛśyata saṃchannā tathā bāṇair mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

ดุจขบวนทัพถูกปกคลุมจนแลไม่ชัดเมื่อฝุ่นผงถูกเหยียบย่ำฟุ้งขึ้น ฉันใด กองทัพนั้นก็แลดูถูกม่านศรของมหาบุรุษผู้นั้นปกคลุมฉันนั้น

Word by Word

यथाas, just as

सैन्येनby the army

रजसाby dust

समुद्धूतेनraised up, stirred up

वाहिनीthe army/host

प्रत्यदृश्यतwas seen, appeared

संछन्नाcovered, concealed

तथाso, likewise

बाणैःby arrows

महात्मनःof the great-souled (hero)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

army (vāhinī)

dust (rajas)

arrows (bāṇa)

mahātmā (the great-souled warrior, contextually Duryodhana per the accompanying sense)

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 highlights how violence and mass movement in war can cloud perception—like dust hiding an army—suggesting that in conflict, clarity is easily lost and events become hard to discern amid overwhelming force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene: the army appears concealed, first likened to being hidden by dust raised by troops, and then compared to being covered by a great warrior’s arrows, emphasizing the intensity of the missile-shower.