Shloka 396
Śiva’s Battlefield Manifestation and Vyāsa’s Śatarudrīya Exposition (शिवप्रादुर्भावः शतरुद्रीयव्याख्यानम्)
पार्थ सिषिचतुर्बाणैर्गिरिं मेघाविवाम्बुभि: । एक रथपर आरूढ़ हुए पिता और पुत्र दोनों महारथियोंने अर्जुनपर उसी प्रकार बाणोंकी वर्षा आरम्भ कर दी, जैसे दो मेघखण्ड अपने जलसे किसी पर्वतको सींच रहे हों
sañjaya uvāca | pārthaṃ siṣicatur bāṇair giriṃ meghāv ivāmbubhiḥ |
Sañjaya said: The father and the son—both great warriors, mounted on a single chariot—began to drench Pārtha (Arjuna) with volleys of arrows, as two masses of cloud water a mountain with their rain. Thus, in war’s fury, kinship and restraint were eclipsed by martial resolve, and Arjuna became the focus of concentrated, coordinated violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare can intensify to the point that even familial bonds recede before martial purpose; ethically, it invites reflection on restraint (saṃyama) and the costs of duty-driven violence when combatants focus their power on a single opponent.
Sañjaya describes two allied warriors—father and son—riding together on one chariot and unleashing a heavy, coordinated shower of arrows at Arjuna, compared to two rain-clouds drenching a mountain.