Shloka 40
कर्णवधार्थं धनञ्जयस्य प्रतिज्ञा — Arjuna’s resolve for Karṇa’s defeat
सर्वदिक्षु व्यदृश्यन्त निध्नन्ति तव वाहिनीम् । मान्यवर! उससे सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंमें सहस्नों बाण प्रकट हो-होकर आपकी सेनाका संहार करते दिखायी दिये ।।
sañjaya uvāca | sarvadikṣu vyadṛśyanta nighnanti tava vāhinīm | mānyavara! tatra samantād diśāsu sahasraśo bāṇāḥ prādurbhūya prādurbhūya tava senāyāḥ saṃhāraṃ kurvanta iva dṛśyante sma || hayān rathāṃś ca samare śastraiḥ śata-sahasraśaḥ | samarāṅgaṇe śastraprahāraiḥ śataśo ’tha sahasraśaś ca hayā rathāś ca nipātitāḥ | bhārata! evaṃ senāyāṃ kṣayaṃ gacchantyāṃ saṃśaptakānāṃ ca nārāyaṇī-senāyā gopālānāṃ ca mahad bhayaṃ samajāyata ||
Sañjaya sprach: „In jeder Richtung erschienen, immer wieder, Tausende von Pfeilen, als stiegen sie sichtbar empor, um dein Heer zu vernichten. Auf dem Schlachtfeld wurden durch Waffen zu Hunderten und Tausenden Pferde und Streitwagen niedergestreckt. O Nachkomme Bharatas, als sich das Gemetzel so ausbreitete, ergriff große Furcht die Scharen der Saṃśaptakas und die kuhhirtischen Wachen des Nārāyaṇī-Heeres.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of war: when violence becomes overwhelming and indiscriminate in scale, even vowed warriors and elite troops are shaken by fear. It highlights how quickly confidence collapses when destruction spreads beyond control.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that torrents of arrows seem to arise from every direction, cutting down Duryodhana’s forces. Horses and chariots fall in great numbers, and the Saṃśaptakas along with the attendants/guards of the Nārāyaṇī contingent become terrified as the army is being destroyed.