Shloka 17
Chapter 7: Dvīpa–Varṣa–Meru-varṇana
Description of the Dvīpa, Varṣas, and Mount Meru
चन्द्रप्रभा श्वन्द्रवर्णा: पूर्णचन्द्रनिभानना: । चन्द्रशीतलगात्र्यश्न नृत्यगीतविशारदा:
candraprabhāḥ śveta-varṇāḥ pūrṇa-candra-nibhānanāḥ | candra-śītala-gātryaś ca nṛtya-gīta-viśāradāḥ ||
三阇耶说道：“她们散发月华般的光辉，肤色皎洁，面容妍丽如满月。四肢仿佛月光般清凉，并且精通舞蹈与歌咏之艺。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it uses moon-imagery to portray refined beauty and artistic accomplishment. In the epic’s ethical atmosphere, it implicitly reminds the listener how sensory allure and cultivated pleasures can coexist with, and sometimes distract from, the grave duties and moral tensions of war.
Sañjaya is narrating and describing a group of women (implicitly celestial or exceptionally beautiful performers/attendants), emphasizing their moonlike radiance, coolness, and skill in dance and song, as part of the broader battlefield narration in Bhīṣma Parva.