Shloka 32
द्रौणि-पार्षतयोर्युद्धम् | The Duel of Aśvatthāmā
Drauṇi) and Dhṛṣṭadyumna (Pārṣata
निर्दहन्तौ महाराज श्त्रवृष्ट्या परस्परम्
nirdahantau mahārāja śastravṛṣṭyā parasparam
Sañjaya said: O King, the two warriors were, as it were, burning each other down—showering one another with a rain of weapons. The line underscores how the battle’s fury turns martial skill into mutual destruction, where prowess and wrath eclipse restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical cost of unchecked martial fury: when combat becomes a mutual ‘burning,’ skill serves destruction rather than dharma, reminding the listener that war’s momentum can overwhelm restraint and compassion.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that two opposing fighters are locked in an intense exchange, pelting each other with weapons like a torrential rain, each trying to overpower and ‘consume’ the other.