Shloka 38
Chapter 30: Formation Disruption, Competing War-Cries, and Nīla’s Fall
Droṇa-parva
तेडर्जुनेन शरा मुक्ता: कड्कपत्रास्तनुच्छिद: । शलभा इव सम्पेतु: संवृण्बाना दिशो दश,अर्जुनके द्वारा छोड़े हुए कंकपक्षसे युक्त बाण विपक्षी वीरोंके शरीरोंको छेद डालनेवाले थे। वे सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंको आच्छादित करते हुए टिड्डीदलके समान वहाँ सब ओर गिरने लगे
teḍ arjunena śarā muktāḥ kaṅkapatrās tanucchidaḥ | śalabhā iva sampetuḥ saṃvṛṇvānā diśo daśa ||
Sañjaya said: The arrows released by Arjuna—fletched with vulture-feathers and keen enough to pierce bodies—fell in swarms like locusts, spreading everywhere and veiling all ten directions.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how concentrated skill and resolve in battle can become an all-encompassing force. Ethically, it reminds the listener that in war—even when framed as dharma-yuddha—power manifests as widespread destruction, demanding sobriety about its consequences.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna unleashing a massive volley of sharp, vulture-feathered arrows. They descend like a locust swarm, so numerous that they seem to cover the ten directions, striking and piercing opposing warriors.