Shloka 5
Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)
अयोधयन्त समरे परिवार्य महारथा: । समरांगणमें द्रोणपुत्रको आगे करके कौरव महारथी अर्जुनको रथसमूहसे घेरकर उनके साथ युद्ध करने लगे ।। तैस्तु क्षिप्ता: शरा राजन् कार्तस्वरविभूषिता:
sañjaya uvāca |
ayodhayanta samare parivārya mahārathāḥ |
samarāṅgaṇe droṇaputraṃ agre kṛtvā kauravā mahārathino 'rjunaṃ rathasamūhena gherayitvā tena saha yuddham akurvan ||
tais tu kṣiptāḥ śarā rājan kārtasvaravibhūṣitāḥ |
Sañjaya sprach: Die großen Wagenkrieger kämpften in der Schlacht und umringten ihn von allen Seiten. Auf dem Feld des Krieges rückten die Helden der Kauravas, den Sohn Droṇas an die Spitze stellend, mit einer Masse von Streitwagen gegen Arjuna vor, schlossen den Ring und lieferten ihm Kampf. Da, o König, flogen die Pfeile, die sie schleuderten—mit Gold geschmückt—dahin und steigerten den Druck des Krieges und die Gefahr für das einsame Ziel inmitten der Umzingelung.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare amplifies through collective strategy—many elite warriors coordinating to isolate a single opponent. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between martial skill and the moral weight of escalating violence: tactical success can come through concentration of force, yet it also intensifies harm and tests the boundaries of kṣatriya conduct.
Sanjaya reports that the Kaurava great chariot-warriors, with Aśvatthāmā placed at the front, surround Arjuna with a formation of chariots and attack him. They shower him with arrows, described as gold-adorned, emphasizing both the ferocity and the martial splendor of the assault.