Shloka 183
भीमसेन-धृष्टद्युम्नयोर्वाक्यं
Bhīmasena and Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s Speeches on Kṣātra-Dharma
रथिनामृषभं द्रौणिं धाराभिरिव तोयद: । जैसे मेघ पर्वतपर जलकी धारा गिराता है, उसी प्रकार घटोत्कच रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ अश्वत्थामापर रथके धुरेके समान मोटे-मोटे बाणोंकी वर्षा करने लगा
sañjaya uvāca | rathinām ṛṣabhaṃ drauṇiṃ dhārābhir iva toyadaḥ |
Sañjaya said: Like a rain-cloud pouring down streams of water upon a mountain, Ghaṭotkaca began to shower Aśvatthāmā—Droṇa’s son, foremost among chariot-warriors—with thick, axle-like arrows, until the field seemed a tempest of missiles.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the war-ethos where excellence is shown through overwhelming martial skill, while implicitly reminding that such displays intensify conflict—an ethical tension in the Mahābhārata between valor (kṣātra-dharma) and the destructive momentum of violence.
Sanjaya describes Ghaṭotkaca launching a heavy, continuous barrage of arrows at Aśvatthāmā (Drona’s son), comparing the missile-shower to a cloud releasing torrents of rain.