Shloka 25

Arjuna–Bhīṣma Strategic Engagement and Mutual Arrow-Interdiction (भीष्मार्जुनसमागमः)

Devanagari script

कुरुपाण्डवसेने ते हस्त्यश्वरथसंकुले । शुशुभाते रणे5तीव पटे चित्रार्पिते इव

Transliteration

kurupāṇḍavasene te hasty-aśva-ratha-saṅkule | śuśubhāte raṇe 'tīva paṭe citrārpite iva ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：俱卢与般度两军，象马战车拥塞其间，在战场上熠熠生辉——宛如布帛之上绘出的鲜明图像。此偈点出战争的奇景：外表的华美与秩序，掩盖着即将到来的毁灭所负的沉重道义。

Word by Word

• कुरु-पाण्डव-सेने: the Kuru and Pandava armies
• कुरु-पाण्डव-सेने: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेना
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Dual

• ते: those (two)
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Dual

• हस्ति-अश्व-रथ-संकुले: crowded with elephants, horses, and chariots
• हस्ति-अश्व-रथ-संकुले: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संकुल
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Dual

• शुशुभाते: shone, were splendid
• शुशुभाते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: शुभ्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Dual, Parasmaipada

• रणे: in battle / on the battlefield
• रणे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रण
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• अतीव: exceedingly, very much
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अतीव

• पटे: on a cloth/canvas
• पटे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पट
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• चित्र-आर्पिते: depicted/painted as a picture (lit. 'picture-placed')
• चित्र-आर्पिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आर्पित
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kuru army
• Pāṇḍava army
• battlefield (raṇa)
• elephants
• horses
• chariots
• painted cloth/canvas (paṭa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts the visual splendor of martial formations with the ethical gravity of war: what appears beautiful and orderly can still be a setting for profound suffering and moral consequence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kuru and Pāṇḍava forces, packed with elephants, horses, and chariots, look dazzling on the battlefield—comparable to a richly painted scene on cloth.