Shloka 20
Chapter 30: Formation Disruption, Competing War-Cries, and Nīla’s Fall
Droṇa-parva
विविधानि च रक्षांसि क्षुधितान्यर्जुनं प्रति । संक्रुद्धान्यभ्यधावन्त विविधानि वयांसि च,गदहे, ऊँट, भैंसे, सिंह, व्याप्र, रोझ, चीते, रीक्ष, कुत्ते, गीध, बन्दर, साँप तथा नाना प्रकारके भूखे राक्षस एवं भाँति-भाँतिके पक्षी अत्यन्त कुपित हो अर्जुनपर धावा करने लगे
vividhāni ca rakṣāṃsi kṣudhitāny arjunaṃ prati | saṃkruddhāny abhyadhāvanta vividhāni vayāṃsi ca ||
Sañjaya said: Many kinds of ravenous rākṣasas, driven by hunger and fury, rushed toward Arjuna; and many kinds of birds as well surged at him. The scene underscores the war’s ominous, adharma-tinged atmosphere—where ferocity and predation gather around the foremost warrior, testing resolve amid terror and confusion.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war unleashes forces of predation and terror—symbolically and literally—yet a dharmic warrior must maintain steadiness and discernment amid frightening portents and hostile onrush.
Sañjaya describes an ominous moment in the battle: hungry, enraged rākṣasas and various birds rush toward Arjuna, intensifying the sense of dread and the supernatural or portentous atmosphere surrounding the combat.