Shloka 40
कर्णवधार्थं धनञ्जयस्य प्रतिज्ञा — Arjuna’s resolve for Karṇa’s defeat
सर्वदिक्षु व्यदृश्यन्त निध्नन्ति तव वाहिनीम् । मान्यवर! उससे सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंमें सहस्नों बाण प्रकट हो-होकर आपकी सेनाका संहार करते दिखायी दिये ।। हयान् रथांश्व समरे शस्त्र: शतसहस्रश:,समरांगणमें शस्त्रोंद्वारा सैकड़ों और हजारों घोड़े तथा रथ मारे जाने लगे। भारत! इस प्रकार जब सेनाका संहार होने लगा, तब संशप्तकगणों और नारायणी सेनाके ग्वालोंको बड़ा भय हुआ
sañjaya uvāca | sarvadikṣu vyadṛśyanta nighnanti tava vāhinīm | mānyavara! tatra samantād diśāsu sahasraśo bāṇāḥ prādurbhūya prādurbhūya tava senāyāḥ saṃhāraṃ kurvanta iva dṛśyante sma || hayān rathāṃś ca samare śastraiḥ śata-sahasraśaḥ | samarāṅgaṇe śastraprahāraiḥ śataśo ’tha sahasraśaś ca hayā rathāś ca nipātitāḥ | bhārata! evaṃ senāyāṃ kṣayaṃ gacchantyāṃ saṃśaptakānāṃ ca nārāyaṇī-senāyā gopālānāṃ ca mahad bhayaṃ samajāyata ||
Sañjaya said: “In every direction there appeared, again and again, thousands of arrows, as though they were visibly rising up to destroy your army. On the battlefield, by weapons in the hundreds and thousands, horses and chariots were being struck down. O descendant of Bharata, as the slaughter of the host thus spread, great fear seized the Saṃśaptakas and the cowherd-guards of the Nārāyaṇī army.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of war: when violence becomes overwhelming and indiscriminate in scale, even vowed warriors and elite troops are shaken by fear. It highlights how quickly confidence collapses when destruction spreads beyond control.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that torrents of arrows seem to arise from every direction, cutting down Duryodhana’s forces. Horses and chariots fall in great numbers, and the Saṃśaptakas along with the attendants/guards of the Nārāyaṇī contingent become terrified as the army is being destroyed.