Shloka 4
कर्णार्जुनयुद्ध-प्रवृत्तिः
Renewal of the Karṇa–Arjuna Engagement at Day’s End
शरतोमरनाराचैववृष्टिमन्त इवाम्बुदा: । सिषिचुस्ते ततः सर्वे पाउ्चालबलमाहवे,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
śaratomara-nārācaiḥ vṛṣṭimanta iva ambudāḥ | siṣicuḥ te tataḥ sarve pāñcāla-balam āhave, bhārata ||
Sañjaya said: Then all those warriors drenched the Pāñcāla host in battle with a shower of arrows, javelins, and iron darts—like rain-laden clouds pouring down.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming, collective momentum of warfare: like rainclouds, combatants unleash massed weapons that can eclipse individual agency. Ethically, it points to the grim reality within kṣatriya-dharma—courage and duty are exercised in a setting where suffering spreads broadly and swiftly.
Sañjaya describes a phase of the battle in which the Pāñcāla forces are showered with missiles—arrows, javelins, and nārācas—by opposing warriors, compared to clouds pouring rain.