Shloka 243
उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
घोरश्नट्चटाशब्द: शस्त्राणां पततामभूत् । जैसे पर्वतपर रातके समय बाँसोंका जंगल जल रहा हो और उन बाँसोंका चटखनेका घोर शब्द सुनायी दे रहा हो, उसी प्रकार शस्त्रोंक आघात-प्रत्याघातसे घोर चटचट शब्द कानोंमें पड़ रहा था
sañjaya uvāca | ghoraś caṭacchabdaḥ śastrāṇāṃ patatām abhūt |
Sañjaya said: A dreadful crackling sound arose as the weapons fell and struck—an ominous din born of impact and counter-impact, like the terrifying snapping heard when a bamboo thicket burns at night. The battlefield’s violence thus announced itself not only through sight, but through sound that shook the senses and signaled the relentless escalation of slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the dehumanizing momentum of war: violence becomes an all-encompassing sensory reality, where even sound turns into a sign of escalating destruction. It implicitly cautions that when conflict intensifies, it overwhelms discernment and compassion, making ethical restraint (dharma) harder to sustain.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at a moment of intense fighting: weapons are falling, colliding, and rebounding, producing a terrifying crackling noise. The simile (as in a bamboo grove burning at night) conveys the continuous, sharp, and frightening character of the sound.