Shloka 2
कर्णार्जुनयुद्ध-प्रवृत्तिः
Renewal of the Karṇa–Arjuna Engagement at Day’s End
संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! आपके पुत्र दुर्योधनकी आज्ञा पाकर बहुत-से महावत धष्टद्युम्नको मार डालनेकी इच्छासे क्रोधपूर्वक हाथियोंके साथ आकर उनपर टूट पड़े ।। प्राच्याश्न दाक्षिणात्याश्व प्रवरा गजयोधिन: । अड्डा वज्ञश्च पुण्ड़ाश्न मागधास्ताम्रलिप्तका:,भारत! पूर्व और दक्षिण दिशाके श्रेष्ठ गजयोद्धा तथा अंग, बंग, पुण्ड्र, मगध, ताम्रलिप्त, मेकल, कोसल, मद्र, दशार्ण तथा निषध देशोंके समस्त गजयुद्धनिपुण वीर कलिंगोंके साथ मिलकर वर्षा करनेवाले मेघोंके समान समरांगणमें पांचाल-सेनापर बाण, तोमर और नाराचोंकी वृष्टि करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | rājan tava putrasya duryodhanasyājñāṃ prāpya bahavo mahāmātrāḥ krodhapūrvam hastibhiḥ saha dhṛṣṭadyumnam avadhitum icchantaḥ tam abhyapatanta || prācyāś ca dākṣiṇātyāś ca pravarā gajayodhinaḥ | aṅgā baṅgāś ca puṇḍrāś ca māgadhās tāmraliptakāḥ | mekalāḥ kosalā madrā daśārṇā niṣadhās tathā | kaliṅgaiḥ saha saṅgamyāmbudā iva varṣiṇaḥ | samare pāñcālasenāyāṃ bāṇa-tomara-nārācānāṃ vṛṣṭim avarṣayan ||
Sañjaya said: O King, at the command of your son Duryodhana, many elephant-commanders, inflamed with anger and eager to slay Dhrishtadyumna, charged upon him with their elephants. Warriors skilled in elephant-combat—foremost men from the eastern and southern regions—together with fighters from Anga, Vanga, Pundra, Magadha, Tamralipta, Mekala, Kosala, Madra, Dasharna, Nishadha, and the Kalingas, advanced like rain-bearing clouds and poured a storm of arrows, javelins, and iron darts upon the Panchala army on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a ruler’s command can rapidly mobilize vast forces and how anger-driven intent (krodha) shapes action in war. Ethically, it underscores the Mahabharata’s recurring warning: when leadership is guided by hostility and vengeance, collective power becomes an instrument of destruction rather than protection.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that, on Duryodhana’s order, many elephant-commanders from multiple regions converge and assault Dhrishtadyumna and the Panchala forces, unleashing a dense barrage of missiles—likened to rainclouds pouring down.