Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 23
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
समीयतुस्तदान्योन्यं परस्परवधैषिणौ । वे दोनों ही मनुष्योंमें व्याप्रके समान पराक्रमी थे और दोनों ही धनुर्धरोंमें श्रेष्ठ समझे जाते थे। उस समय परस्पर वधकी इच्छासे दोनों ही एक-दूसरेके साथ भिड़ गये || २२३ || तयोरासीन्महाराज बाणवर्ष सुदारुणम्
samīyatus tadānyonyaṃ parasparavadhaiṣiṇau | tayor āsīn mahārāja bāṇavarṣaṃ sudāruṇam ||
Sañjaya said: Then the two closed in upon each other, each intent on the other’s death. O King, between them there arose a most dreadful shower of arrows—an encounter driven by mutual hostility, where martial excellence is turned toward annihilation rather than restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial prowess, when governed by the desire to kill, becomes ethically grim: skill and valor are morally neutral until directed by intention. It implicitly contrasts kṣatriya valor with the peril of hatred-driven reciprocity.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that two opposing warriors have closed in on each other, both seeking the other’s death, and that their duel erupts into a fierce exchange—described as a terrifying ‘rain of arrows.’
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.