Shloka 523
वराड़मुर्व्यामपतच्चमूमुखे दिवाकरो<स्तादिव रक्तमण्डल: | अंजलिकसे कटा हुआ कर्णका वह मस्तक पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ा। उसके बाद उसका शरीर भी धराशायी हो गया। जैसे लाल मण्डलवाला सूर्य अस्ताचलसे नीचे गिरता है
varāḍam urvyām apatat camūmukhe divākaro 'stād iva raktamaṇḍalaḥ |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Sa pinakaharap ng hukbo, ang kanyang ulo—naputol ng palaso—ay bumagsak sa lupa, na wari’y pulang-bilog na araw na lumulubog sa kanlurang abot-tanaw. Pagkaraan, gumuho rin ang kanyang katawan. Ipinapakita ng paghahambing ang bigat ng sandaling ito: ang isang mandirigmang maningning at kakila-kilabot ay ibinabagsak ng di-maiiwasang batas ng digmaan; sa pagsasanib ng giting at tadhana, kahit ang pinakamatingkad na ningning ay kailangang lumubog.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights impermanence and the moral weight of war: even the most radiant and powerful must ‘set’ in time. The sun-simile frames a warrior’s fall as both inevitable and solemn, reminding the listener that glory in battle is transient and subject to destiny and the larger order (dharma).
Sañjaya describes a decisive battlefield moment: a severed head falls to the ground at the army’s forefront, and the body collapses afterward. The event is poetically compared to the red-disc sun descending at sunset, emphasizing the dramatic, irreversible end of a mighty presence in the fight.