Shloka 183
Sātyaki-praveśaḥ and Duryodhana-saṃnipātaḥ
Sātyaki’s passage and Duryodhana’s mass engagement
आशीविषविदष्टानां सर्पाणामिव भारत । भरतनन्दन! नाराचोंसे अत्यन्त विद्ध हुए बाणोंका स्वरूप विषधर नागोंके डँसे हुए सर्पोंके समान जान पड़ता था
āśīviṣa-vidaṣṭānāṃ sarpāṇām iva bhārata | bharata-nandana nārācaiḥ atyantaṃ viddhānāṃ bāṇānāṃ svarūpaṃ viṣadhara-nāgair daṣṭānāṃ sarpāṇāṃ samānaṃ jānīyate |
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, O joy of the Bharata race, the appearance of those arrows—pierced through and through by the nārāca shafts—seemed like snakes that have been bitten by venomous serpents. In the fury of battle, the weapons themselves looked as if they were writhing under poison, revealing how utterly the warriors were being overwhelmed.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal reality of war through a vivid simile: even weapons appear ‘poison-struck,’ conveying how violence multiplies suffering and disorder. It functions as an ethical warning embedded in narrative—war deforms perception and leaves all sides wounded.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: arrows that have been heavily struck by nārāca missiles look like snakes writhing after being bitten by venomous serpents, emphasizing the intensity of the exchange of missiles.