Shloka 14
Pāṇḍya-vadha-anantaram Arjunasya Pravṛttiḥ
Arjuna’s Response and the Renewed Battle
तेषु प्रभग्नेषु गुरोस्तनूजं बाणै: किरीटी नवसूर्यवर्ण: । प्रच्छादयामास महा भ्रजालै- वायु: समुद्यन्तमिवांशुमन्तम्
teṣu prabhagneṣu guros tanūjaṁ bāṇaiḥ kirīṭī nava-sūrya-varṇaḥ | pracchādayāmāsa mahā-bhrajālair vāyuḥ samudyantam ivāṁśumantam ||
Sañjaya said: When those warriors had been routed, the diadem-wearing Arjuna—his arrows blazing like the newly risen sun—covered Droṇa’s son, Aśvatthāmā, with great nets of shafts, as though the wind had veiled the rising, ray-filled sun with massive banks of clouds.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined power in dharmic warfare: Arjuna’s superior skill overwhelms an opponent decisively, and the poetic simile (sun veiled by clouds) frames martial dominance as controlled, purposeful action rather than chaotic rage.
After certain troops are routed, Arjuna (kirīṭī) turns his focus on Aśvatthāmā, Droṇa’s son, and showers him with dense, blazing volleys of arrows, effectively covering and suppressing him in battle.