Санджая
एकः स शतधा राजन् दृश्यते स्म सहस्रधा ॥
अलातचक्रवत् संख्ये क्षिप्रम् अस्त्राणि दर्शयन् ॥
रथचर्यास्त्रमायाभिर् मोहयित्वा परंतपः ॥
बिभेद शतधा राजञ् शरीराणि महीक्षिताम् ॥
प्राणाः प्राणभृतां संख्ये प्रेषिता निशितैः शरैः ॥
राजन् प्रापुर् अमुं लोकं शरीराण्य् अवनिं ययुः ॥
ekaḥ sa śatadhā rājan dṛśyate sma sahasradhā ||
alātacakravat saṃkhye kṣipram astrāṇi darśayan ||
rathacaryāstramāyābhir mohayitvā paraṃtapaḥ ||
bibheda śatadhā rājañ śarīrāṇi mahīkṣitām ||
prāṇāḥ prāṇabhṛtāṃ saṃkhye preṣitā niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
rājan prāpur amuṃ lokaṃ śarīrāṇy avaniṃ yayuḥ ||
Alone, he appeared a hundredfold, O king, and a thousandfold — like a wheel of fire in battle, swiftly displaying his spell-weapons. Having confounded the foe with the art of chariot-warfare and illusory weapons, the scorcher of enemies pierced the bodies of kings a hundredfold, O king. The lives of living beings, sent forth in battle by sharp arrows, O king, reached the world beyond, while their bodies fell to the ground.
89792fc42742 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:03 PM UTC
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The illusion multiplies the single youth into hundreds and thousands, "like a wheel of fire," and the enemies, not knowing where the real one is, perish in confusion. Thus is shown the power of illusion, now turned to the good of the righteous: the very art of illusion by which the enemy (Shakuni) once tried to destroy Arjuna now serves Arjuna's son against the unrighteous. It is significant that the tradition distinguishes: lives depart "to the world beyond," bodies fall "to the ground" — soul and flesh part along their own paths. The verse teaches that one and the same means — illusion, deception — serves now evil, now good, depending on whose hands wield it; that amid confusion the enemy perishes from his own bewilderment; and that the tradition, separating the departure of the soul from the fall of the body, reminds us that death is not annihilation but a parting of ways — flesh to the earth, life to the world beyond.