Shloka 15
भीमसेन-दुर्योधन-समागमः
Bhīmasena–Duryodhana Engagement at Sunset
तत्राद्भुतमपश्याम सम्प्रहारं सुदारुणम् । यदकुर्वन् रणे शूरा: सृंजया: कुरुभि: सह
tatrādbhutam apaśyāma samprahāraṃ sudāruṇam | yad akurvan raṇe śūrāḥ sṛñjayāḥ kurubhiḥ saha ||
Sañjaya said: There we witnessed a wondrous yet exceedingly dreadful clash of arms—the fierce engagement that the heroic Sṛñjayas waged in battle together with the Kurus. O scorcher of foes, so many arrows were loosed on every side that, being covered by them, we could not see the sky, the sun, the directions, nor even the intermediate quarters.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the paradox of war: it can appear ‘adbhuta’ (astonishing) in scale and valor, yet it is ‘sudāruṇa’ (terrible) in consequence. It implicitly cautions that martial excellence and collective duty do not erase the ethical weight of destruction.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra what he ‘saw’ on the battlefield: an intense, dreadful engagement in which the Sṛñjaya warriors fought alongside/against the Kurus in a fierce clash of arms.