Shloka 183
भीमस्य जलान्वेषणं तथा वनविश्रान्तिः
Bhīma’s Search for Water and the Forest Halt
धनुर्ज्यातलशब्दश्न संस्पृश्य गगनं महान् | द्रपदके भयंकर बाण सब दिशाओंमें विचरने लगे। महाराज! उनकी विजय होती देख पांचालोंके घरोंमें शंख, भेरी और मृदंग आदि सहस्रों बाजे एक साथ बज उठे। महान् आत्मबलसे सम्पन्न पांचाल-सैनिकोंका सिंहनाद बड़े जोरोंसे होने लगा। साथ ही उनके धनुषोंकी प्रत्यंचाओंका महान् टंकार आकाशमें फैलकर गूँजने लगा
vaiśampāyana uvāca | dhanurjyāṭalaśabdaś ca saṃspṛśya gaganaṃ mahān | drupadake bhayaṅkarā bāṇāḥ sarvadiśaṃ vicaranāḥ || mahārāja! teṣāṃ vijayaṃ dṛṣṭvā pañcālānāṃ gṛheṣu śaṅkhabherīmṛdaṅgādayaḥ sahasraśo vādyāni yugapat prāduḥśabdam akurvan | mahātmabalasampannāḥ pañcālasainikāḥ siṃhanādaṃ mahāvegena cakruḥ | sahaiva ca teṣāṃ dhanūṃṣi pratyancāṭaṅkāro mahān ākāśe vyāptaḥ pratyanunādayām āsa ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The mighty twang of bowstrings rose up and seemed to touch the sky. Terrifying arrows began to range in every direction. O King, seeing their victory, in the homes of the Pañcālas thousands of instruments—conches, kettle-drums, and mṛdaṅgas—burst forth together. The Pañcāla soldiers, endowed with great inner strength, roared like lions with tremendous force; and at the same time the loud reverberation of their bowstrings spread through the heavens and echoed all around.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how collective morale and inner strength (ātmabala) manifest outwardly in disciplined martial readiness and communal celebration. It implicitly contrasts righteous confidence and unity with fear: victory is not only a battlefield outcome but also a social and ethical affirmation that energizes a whole community.
A victorious moment for the Pañcālas is being described: arrows fly, bowstrings thunder, soldiers roar, and the populace celebrates with conches and drums. Vaiśampāyana paints a vivid soundscape of triumph and mobilized force, addressed to the king listening to the epic.