Shloka 15
Daśame’hani Bhīṣma-yuddham — Śikhaṇḍī-rakṣaṇa, Arjuna-prabhāva, Duryodhana-āśraya-vākyam
जैसे प्रलयकालमें साक्षात् काल सबको मार डालता है, उसी प्रकार अर्जुनकी मार खाकर त्रिगर्तदेशीय सैनिक मरनेका निश्चय करके पुनः उन्हींपर टूट पड़े ।।
sañjaya uvāca | yathā pralayakāle sākṣāt kālaḥ sarvān mārayati tathā arjunena nihanyamānās trigartadeśīyā yodhā mṛtyuṃ niścitya punar evārjunasyaiva samīpaṃ pratyapatanta | mumucuḥ śaravṛṣṭiṃ ca pāṇḍavasya rathaṃ prati | śaravṛṣṭiṃ tatas tāṃ tu śaravarṣaḥ samantataḥ ||
Sanjaya said: As at the time of dissolution Time itself strikes down all beings, so the warriors of Trigarta—though being cut down by Arjuna—resolved upon death and again rushed upon him. They loosed a rain of arrows toward the Pandava’s chariot; and then, from every side, that shower of arrows was met by Arjuna’s own counter-storm of shafts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield violence through the image of Kāla (Time/Death): individual prowess and collective courage still move within an overpowering moral-cosmic order. It highlights the Kshatriya ideal of steadfast resolve—even to death—while also reminding that destruction, once unleashed, can become impersonal and inevitable like Time.
After suffering heavy losses at Arjuna’s hands, the Trigarta fighters decide on a desperate, death-bound charge. They pour a dense arrow-shower at Arjuna’s chariot, and Arjuna answers with an even more encompassing counter-rain of arrows from all directions.