Shloka 72

Devanagari script

नानावर्णविचित्राभि: पताकाभिरलंकृतान्‌ । वारणाननुपश्याम धावमानान्‌ समन्तत:ः

Transliteration

nānāvarṇavicitrābhiḥ patākābhir alaṅkṛtān | vāraṇān anupaśyāma dhāvamānān samantataḥ ||

Translation

Wika ni Sañjaya: “Namasdan namin ang mga elepanteng pinalamutian ng mga bandilang sari-sari ang kulay at anyo, na sumasalakay at humahagibis sa lahat ng panig.”

Word by Word

नानाvarious, many kinds of

वर्णcolor

विचित्राभिःwith variegated/ornate (ones)

पताकाभिःwith banners/flags

अलंकृतान्adorned, decorated

वारणान्elephants

अनुपश्यामःwe behold, we see

धावमानान्running, rushing

समन्ततःon all sides, all around

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

war-elephants (vāraṇāḥ)

banners/standards (patākāḥ)

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 primarily serves narrative realism rather than direct moral instruction: it highlights the scale and pageantry of war, implicitly reminding the listener that even splendid martial display (banners, ornamentation) accompanies destructive violence, urging discernment about the true cost of conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra what is seen on the battlefield: war-elephants, decorated with multicolored standards, are rushing about on all sides—signaling intense, chaotic movement in the ongoing combat.