Shloka 37
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
एकच्छायम भूत् सर्व तस्य बाणैर्महात्मन: । अभ्रच्छायेव संजज्ञे सम्पतद्धि: शरोत्तमै:
sañjaya uvāca | ekacchāyam abhūt sarvaṁ tasya bāṇair mahātmanaḥ | abhracchāyeva saṁjajñe sampatadbhiḥ śarottamaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: As that great-souled warrior’s arrows rained down, everything there seemed to fall under a single shadow, as though a dense cloud-bank had gathered—so thickly did the finest shafts descend. The image underscores how martial prowess can overwhelm the senses and the field itself, turning the battle into a moral and physical darkness where discernment becomes difficult.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the metaphor of cloud-darkness to show how violence and overwhelming power can eclipse clarity and moral discernment; in war, even the environment seems swallowed by a single shadow, hinting at the ethical obscuration that accompanies relentless combat.
Sañjaya describes a moment in the battle when a great warrior’s arrows fall in such numbers that the scene appears uniformly dark—like the gloom that spreads when heavy clouds cover the sky.