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 ||
তখন পরস্পরকে বধ করার বাসনায় তারা একে অপরের দিকে ধেয়ে এসে সংঘর্ষে লিপ্ত হল। হে মহারাজ, তাদের মধ্যে ভীষণ তীরবৃষ্টি শুরু হল।
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.’