Shloka 58
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 95 — Sātyaki’s Breakthrough and the Routing of Allied Contingents
शरार्चिरदहत् क्रुद्ध: पाण्डवाग्निर्धनंजय: । जैसे वायुप्रेरित अग्नि सूखे ईंधन, तृण और लताओंसे युक्त तथा बहुसंख्यक वृक्षों और लतागुल्मोंसे भरे हुए जंगलको जलाकर भस्म कर देती है, उसी प्रकार श्रीकृष्णरूपी वायुसे प्रेरित हो बाणरूपी ज्वालाओंसे युक्त पाण्डुपुत्र अर्जुनरूपी अग्निने कुपित होकर आपकी सेनारूप वनको दग्ध कर दिया || ५६-५७ $ ।। शून्यान् कुर्वन् रथोपस्थान् मानवै: संस्तरन् महीम्
sañjaya uvāca | śarārcir adahat kruddhaḥ pāṇḍavāgnir dhanañjayaḥ | śūnyān kurvan rathopasthān mānavaiḥ saṃstaran mahīm ||
Sañjaya said: “Enraged, Dhanañjaya—Arjuna, the fire of the Pāṇḍavas—burned the foe with the flame of his arrows, leaving the chariot-stands empty and carpeting the earth with fallen men.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the overwhelming force of a warrior acting in the heat of battle: Arjuna’s arrows are likened to fire, showing how martial skill and wrath can rapidly transform the field. Ethically, it also points to the grim reality that even ‘duty-bound’ warfare results in mass suffering—empty chariots and the earth covered with the fallen.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna, furious in combat, cutting down opponents so thoroughly that chariot positions are left vacant and the ground is strewn with bodies. It is a vivid battlefield report emphasizing Arjuna’s dominance at this moment in Droṇa Parva.