Shloka 117
तापन॑ सर्वसैन्यानां घोररूपं सुदारुणम् । समावृत्य महासेनां ज्वलन्तं स्वेन तेजसा
tāpayan sarva-sainyānāṃ ghora-rūpaṃ sudāruṇam | samāvṛtya mahāsenāṃ jvalantaṃ svena tejasā ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Jene Bhārgava-Waffe – von schrecklicher Gestalt und von wilder Vernichtungskraft – hat sich über das gewaltige Heer der Pāṇḍavas ausgebreitet. In eigenem Glanz lodernd, versengt sie das ganze Heer und peinigt alle Krieger mit sengender Hitze.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying, impersonal power of astras: once unleashed, they can engulf entire hosts and cause indiscriminate suffering. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring concern about proportionality and restraint in warfare—power must be governed by dharma, or it becomes sheer devastation.
Sañjaya describes a Bhārgava weapon being deployed in the battle. It spreads over the Pāṇḍava forces like a blazing cover, radiating its own fiery energy and scorching the soldiers throughout the army.