Shloka 43
भीष्मभीमसमागमः — Bhīṣma–Bhīma Strategic Engagement and Counsel to the King
शस्त्रवृष्टि परैर्मुक्तां शरौघैर्यदवारयत् । न च तत्राप्यनिर्भिन्न: कश्चिदासीद् विशाम्पते
sañjaya uvāca | śastravṛṣṭiṃ parair muktāṃ śaraughair yad avārayat | na ca tatrāpy anirbhinnaḥ kaścid āsīd viśāṃ pate ||
Sañjaya said: With his dense volleys of arrows he checked the storm of missiles released by the enemy. O lord of men, in that moment there was no warrior left there who was not pierced and torn by his shafts—so overwhelming was the force of his counterattack amid the righteous yet ruinous press of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of steadfastness and tactical mastery in battle—meeting force with disciplined counterforce—while also underscoring the grim ethical reality of war: even when fought under dharma, it leaves virtually no one untouched by injury and suffering.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior (contextually, a principal fighter in the battle scene) counters the enemy’s missile-rain with his own arrow-volleys, effectively stopping it; the exchange is so intense that no combatant present remains unpierced by arrows.